Financial Times | China's next 'city from scratch' called into question Financial Times In addition, President Xi Jinping has declared that the new metropolitan utopia will be innovative, green, smart, world-class and with blue skies, fresh air and clean water. The Xiongan plan draws on a blueprint that has been tried and tested in ... |
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China's next 'city from scratch' called into question - Financial Times
The region of Oceania and Australia includes the continent of Australia as well as many surrounding island countries. It is located to the southeast of Asia. Australia is the smallest continent by size and the second smallest in terms of population. Oceania and Australia are surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Much of the region's land mass is desert, but there are also very lush areas. Oceania has some very unique animal life for such a small region. Some examples are the koala (which is not really a bear, but a marsupial), the platypus, and the kangaroo.
Population: 36,593,000 (Source: 2010 United Nations)
Click here to see large map of Oceania and Australia
Area: 3,296,044 square miles
Ranking: Australia is the seventh largest (smallest) and sixth most populous continent
Major Biomes: rain forest, desert, savanna, temperate forests
Major cities:
Major Rivers and Lakes: Lake Gairdner, Lake Carnegie, Lake Taupo, Lake Murray, Murray River, Murrumbidgee River, the Darling River
Major Geographical Features: Great Dividing Range, MacDonnell Ranges, Australian Alps, Great Victorian Desert, Tanami Desert, Great Artesian Basin, Great Barrier Reef (in the Coral Sea), Southern Alps, South Island
Australia was first used as a prison colony by Britain where they would send unwanted criminals and outcasts.
The name Australia means "land of the south".
There are less people that live in Australia than in the US state of Texas.
Oceania is located in the southern hemisphere. This means that it has winter during June, July, and August and summer during the months of December, January, and February.
Oceania Map Game Oceania Crossword Oceania and Australia Word Search
Other Regions and Continents of the World:
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GEORGE HEAGNEY
Last updated15:07, June 7 2017
DAVID UNWIN/FAIRFAX NZ
Manawatu runner Chris Sanson will race in the Gold Coast next month.
Manawatu runner Chris Sanson has been selected to represent New Zealand at the Oceania marathon championships at the Gold Coast next month.
Also going is Hawke's Bay'sLaura Nagel, who will compete in the Oceania 10km championships.
This event has also been designated as a Commonwealth Games selection trial and the 29-year-old Sanson could be in with a shot at being picked if heperforms on the Gold Coast.
In the past 18 months, Sanson has been in top form with his long-distance running.
This year hewon the half marathon at the Hawke's Bay marathon, the Wellington Round the Bays half marathon and the Great Forest Events half at Waitarere Beach,and he finished second at the Rotorua marathon, beaten by Japan'sSaeki Makino.
Sanson is targeting the national championships in Wellington this month, too.
Last year hehad four second places at big running events - the Wellington half marathon, the Hawke's Bay marathon, Great Forest Eventsand the national marathon championships atRotorua.
Because this year's New Zealand marathon championships are after the closing date of application for the Oceania event, they accepted the winner ofthe 2017 Rotorua marathon (or next best available athlete), or the winner oflastyear'snational 10km road race (or next best available athlete), or athletes who submitted their performances for marathon or 10km road competitions from the past year.
A former triathlete and Ironman, Sanson started focusing on long-distance running last year.
-Stuff
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Manawatu's Chris Sanson off to Oceania marathon championships - Manawatu Standard
Cruise Fever | Oceania Cruises Offering Flight Upgrade Offer for European Sailings Cruise Fever Oceania Cruises, the world's largest upper premium cruise line, is currently offering a flight upgrade special as part of the signature OLife Choice package. |
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Oceania Cruises Offering Flight Upgrade Offer for European Sailings - Cruise Fever
Horace Burrell, a longtime Caribbean soccer official and former ally of several controversial FIFA vice presidents, has died. He was 67.
The governing body of soccer in North America said the Jamaican, a senior vice president, died Tuesday. Media in Jamaica reported that Burrell was a patient at Johns Hopkins Cancer Treatment Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
Burrell oversaw Jamaicas qualification for the 1998 World Cup during two stints as president of the soccer federation from 1994-2003 and since 2007.
Captain Burrells commitment and vision for the sport contributed to create a strong legacy for the game within the region, the Miami-based CONCACAF soccer body said.
Burrell gave the Caribbean region continuity at CONCACAF and FIFA through corruption scandals that have flared since 2011. He was a FIFA disciplinary committee member, but lost that duty in 2011 when he was banned for three months in a Caribbean bribery case during that years FIFA presidential election.
Burrell, who had not cooperated fully with a FIFA-appointed investigation, was not implicated in taking money in a scandal which removed CONCACAF president Jack Warner from soccer.
Warner was replaced as CONCACAF leader and FIFA vice president by Jeffrey Webb, once a business partner of Burrells in a Cayman Islands branch of the Captains Bakery and Grill restaurant chain.
Webb and Warner were both indicted in May 2015 by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a sprawling and ongoing investigation of bribery and corruption in international soccer linked to FIFA. Webb has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence, while Warner is fighting extradition to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago.
A third CONCACAF president, Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, was also indicted and arrested later in 2015.
Burrell had rejoined FIFAs inner circle within weeks of his ban expiring in 2012 and was appointed to the committee organizing Olympic soccer tournaments.
As CONCACAF cleaned house in fallout from scandals, Burrell served as its No. 2 elected official and the most senior Caribbean in the 40-nation group.
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Longtime Caribbean soccer official Horace Burrell dies at 67 - FOXSports.com
The US Coast Guard recently offloaded in Puerto Rico more than a metric ton of cocaine, the latest in a string of seizures that points to a potential growth in the Caribbean's role as a drug transshipment hub.
The Coast Guard unloaded 1.1 metric tons of cocaine in Puerto Rico on June 2. The drugs, seized a week earlier off the island's southern coast, are estimated to have a wholesale value of around $32 million.
According to a June 6 press release, three Dominican nationals were arrested as part of the operation. They will face US federal charges in a Puerto Rico court.
The incident is the latest in a series of large cocaine seizures in the Caribbean this year. In a single operation in February, the Coast Guard seized 4.2 metric tons of cocaine heading to Europe in international waters off the northern coast of Suriname -- the largest bust in the Atlantic Ocean in nearly two decades.
Meanwhile, on June 4, the Jamaica Observer reported a small seizure of 75 kilograms of cocaine that were being shipped from Suriname and Guyana, indicating that the Caribbean is an important route for both large-scale and small-scale trafficking.
The latest seizures serve as a reminder of the Caribbean's important role as a drug transshipment hub, but also of the variety of routes and operations established in the area.
Central America and Mexico remain the main corridor for South American drugs heading to the US market, accounting for an estimated 76 percent of cocaine smuggled north, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration's 2016 National Drug Threat Assessment report. However, almost all of the remainder travels to the United States through the Caribbean, the report states.
SEE ALSO: Caribbean News and Profile
US authorities have in the past argued that evidence points to growing trafficking activities through the Caribbean. In fact, the DEA has said that the region saw a three-fold increase in drug smuggling between 2009 and 2014.
Indeed, the Caribbean's transshipment role has grown increasingly visible in recent years. The region remains one of the two main transit points for cocaine crossing the Atlantic to feed European consumption markets. This flow has most likely been fueled by the boom in Colombia's cocaine production, while the deep crisis shaking neighboring Venezuela -- from where many Caribbean shipments are launched -- also facilitates trafficking activities.
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String of Large Drug Seizures Suggests Growth in Caribbean Trafficking - Insightcrime.org
Royal Caribbean Blog (blog) | 6 things you may not have tried on a Royal Caribbean cruise Royal Caribbean Blog (blog) A Royal Caribbean cruise is the kind of vacation experience where fond memories are made. We all have our favorite restaurants, spots onboard, and entertainment to experience, but why not try something new the next time you go? Here are a few ... Port Everglades to Invest More Than $100 Million in Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal Port Everglades Investing $100 Million to Renovate Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal Why Investors remained buoyant on: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), Enbridge Energy Partners, LP (EEP) |
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6 things you may not have tried on a Royal Caribbean cruise - Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)
Edmund Bartlett, Jamaicas minister of tourism. (photo by Brian Major)
Jamaicas Ministry of Tourism is partnering with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and international financial organizations, including the World Bank Group, to host a novel conference organizers hope will result in innovative strategies to expand Caribbean tourism.
Announced by Caribbean government and tourism officials at a press briefing Wednesday in New York, the inaugural UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnership for Sustainable Tourism event will be held November 27 to 29 at Jamaicas Montego Bay Convention Center.
The first-ever gathering will bring regional destinations together with Caribbean tourism groups that include the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), plus international development banks, non-profit organizations, academic groups and hotel and cruise industry officials.
The conference will address methods to attract increased tourism investment to Caribbean destinations while formulating policies through which communities will better retain and benefit from tourism expenditures, noted Edmund Bartlett, Jamaicas tourism minister.
The event will be the first UNWTO conference to take place in the Caribbean and coincides with the organizations year-long focus on international sustainable tourism development, said Paul Pennicook, Jamaicas director of the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Among several Caribbean officials to refer to the region as the worlds most tourism-reliant, Bartlett said countries in the region have the worlds highest proportion of total employment and percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) derived from tourism.
It is estimated that one in every four [Caribbean] persons is employed by tourism-related activities, and the sector accounts for 41 percent of all exports and services and 31 percent of all gross domestic product, he added.
READ MORE:Haitis Hometown Airline Spreads Its Wings
Bartlett also outlined the tourism industrys growing global significance: Global travel employs 10 percent of global labor. That means one in every 10 people working in the world is working in tourism. 1.2 billion people traveled globally in 2016, spending $1.3 trillion and 30 percent of world trade is in tourism.
Yet, Caribbean destinations have largely failed to retain tourism expenditures, Bartlett lamented. Thus the conference will focus on building linkages in our communities to capitalize on tourism dollars.
Bartlett said 80 percent of global tourism operations are run by small and medium-sized businesses.
If tourism is to be an economic driver, we have to improve in our retention of the proceeds, he said.
Bartlett said the conference themes will include tourism and sustainability; threats, risks and challenges; the strengthening of human capital; tourism value chain linkages and technology and innovation.
He added that the gathering will culminate in the formulation of a Montego Bay Declaration, which will provide an action plan for tourism destinations to follow.
The Montego Bay Declaration will contribute to a UNWTO global report on public-private partnerships. The conference will also feature the presentation of Caribbean Legend Awards to individuals that have made an indelible mark on the tourism industry, enhancing the Caribbean brand, Bartlett said.
Because we are the most tourism-reliant region of the world, we have to be the most tourism-competent, said Riley of CTO. We have to care more about the quality of the experience of the people who visit.
Matt Cooper, CHTAs chief marketing officer, noted Caribbean hoteliers operate in the worlds highest-cost region based on electricity rates and access to water.
Sustainability to us is a matter of practicality and survival, he said.
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Inaugural Jamaica Conference Invests in Caribbean Tourism - TravelPulse
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
Cable Bahamas yesterday expressed optimism that it had created a path for other Bahamian firms to follow by becoming the first local company to cross-list on another Caribbean stock exchange.
Kino Williamson, the BISX-listed communications providers finance chief, told Tribune Business it had taken a big step through last Fridays listing of $14.7 million worth of preference shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).
I think we are definitely the first Bahamian-owned entity to cross-list, he said. The JSEs managing director mentioned that.
Its a big step. When you think about it, we are striving to be a global company, and part of our strategy is to get our name and company out there. It [the cross-listing] gives us more alternative avenues out there for fund-raising, and creates more value for shareholders.
The Series 11 preference shares listed on the JSE are split into two tranches, one denominated in US dollars and the other in Jamaican currency. They represent the portion of last Augusts $50 million preference share offering that Cable Bahamas sought to raise outside this nation from Caribbean investors.
The BISX-listed communications provider had engaged Scotiabank (Bahamas) and its affiliate, Scotia Investments Jamaica, to place the Caribbean portion of the issue, which targeted raising $20 million or 40 per cent of the proceeds. Ultimately, $14.7 million, or 34.4 per cent of the $42.7 million total raised, came from outside the Bahamas.
Besides establishing a milestone for Cable Bahamas, Mr Williamson said Fridays cross-listing could also show the way for other Bahamian companies when it came to tapping capital markets and financing sources outside this nation.
Hopefully, it allows other companies in the Caribbean to come to our market and vice versa, he told Tribune Business, with a company on the local market that wants to cross-list on a Caribbean exchange.
Were creating that path. Were excited. It was a condition of [the preference share] raising to list. Were happy to do it, and happy to accomplish this milestone for the company. It will be interesting to see how our shares do, even though theyre just prefs.
Regional cross-listings, with Caribbean companies listing on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX), and Bahamian firms going on other regional platforms, has often been talked about as one way to expand the local capital markets and boost their liquidity.
This, though, has yet to translate into action apart from Cable Bahamas JSE listing last week. The Bahamian private sector generally, encouraged by exchange control regime restrictions, continued to look inward rather than outward for investors, financing and markets.
Cable Bahamas, with its $100 million expansion into Florida, is one of the few to break that trend. Mr Williamson said the JSE was extremely excited to receive its preference share listing, given the potential boost to liquidity and the possibility it will act as a magnet for more cross-listings.
He added that the increased exposure to a Caribbean investor audience was a key attraction for Cable Bahamas, especially as the company undertakes rapid expansion through Alivs mobile license and its Florida initiatives.
Hopefully with this move, once persons start to see us, particularly the Jamaican investors, following the transition from triple-play to quad-play provider, and see our growth, that creates avenues to raise additional funds if something comes up in the not too distant future, Mr Williamson told Tribune Business. Were excited about it.
We wont stop. Were back to the drawing board, looking at whats next for the company, and hopefully we will come back with something.
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Cable 'Creates Path' For Caribbean Cross-Listing - Bahamas Tribune
Playing Inside Kanye West's 40th Birthday in Bahamas With Kim Kardashian and Their Kids: 'No Work or Social Media'
"No More Parties in L.A." for Kanye. Even for his 40th birthday!
A source close to Kanye West and wife Kim Kardashian West tells ET that the couple "had a great time on vacation in Baker's Bay [on the island of Great Guana Cay in the Bahamas] for his birthday."
MORE: Kim Kardashian Shares Sweet New Photo of Son Saint With Her Grandmother M.J.
"They spent six days at a private home and were able to go totally off the map," the source adds. "No work or social media, it's just what their family needed. Kanye brought his friend, Don Crowley, along with his family. The children had a great time. They hung around at the pool most of the day."
The source also tells ET that they stayed at the home of Mike Meldman, the third owner of Casamigos Tequila with Rande Gerber and George Clooney. Kim has stayed at the locale before, as well as sister Kourtney Kardashian.
EXCLUSIVE: How Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Have Changed Since Robbery and Hospitalization
Kanye officially turns 40 on Thursday, and Kim's only posts leading up to the big day so far have been a throwback of her and her husband, aptly captioned, "Almost your birthday," as well as a sweet plane pic with the couples children, 3-year-old North and 18-month-old Saint, apparently leaving the family birthday-cation.
Almost your birthday
A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 6, 2017 at 10:05pm PDT
A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 6, 2017 at 4:30pm PDT
Kanye has taken a sabbatical from public events in the wake of his and Kim's traumatic past year, which included his wife being robbed at gunpoint in Paris, as well as his hospitalization shortly thereafter. So it's no surprise that this birthday was decidedly more low-key. It's a stark contrast to past birthday's Kim has thrown the rapper, such as his 38th, where Kim rented out Staples Center in Los Angeles, organizing a star-studded pickup basketball game that included John Legend, Justin Bieber, and several NBA stars -- from James Harden, to Kobe Bryant, to Magic Johnson and more.
MORE: Kanye West Showered With 39th Birthday Praise by His Kardashian-Jenner Family -- See All the Love for Yeezy!
As fun as that must have been, we have to imagine a tropical getaway with his wife and two young children made his 40th that much more special!
Happy birthday, Kanye!
Watch the video below for more on the couple's low-key year.
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By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
The Bahamas has been ranked among the top six nations in the Latin American and Caribbean region for the development of data centres, although high electricity costs remain a major obstacle to further growth.
An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report, titled Data Centres and Broadband for sustainable economic and social development, ranked the Bahamas as the Caribbeans leader in developing such facilities, placing it alongside regional giants such as Brazil and Argentina.
Using its own Data Centre Development Index (DCDI), the report said: According to DCDI, the top seven Latin American and Caribbean countries for the construction of data centres are Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay. Unsurprisingly, recent data centre investments are occurring in most of these countries.
Data centres are used to store, manage and distribute data on behalf of hundreds of companies, centralising their information technology (IT) operations and equipment. They are built to withstand natural disasters, and provide security against fire and theft, and are seen as a vital cog in developing knowledge-based economies - a key target for the Bahamas.
Given the increasing role IT is playing in economies and societies, the IDB report said: Data centres, where information is stored and processed, are essential for the development of the ICT ecosystem.
The speed of networks, security of the critical infrastructure and information, and the quality of public services, data and systems all depend on the availability and quality of data centres. Due to their vital role, the design and development of these centres is a priority for both private stakeholders and governments in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.
The report indicates that the Bahamas has a strong foundation on which to build a knowledge-based economy, ranking the Bahamas among six of 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries who show very high values for economic development and connectivity.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay have very high levels of fundamental infrastructure, while the Bahamas and Panama show moderate levels of that pillar, the IDB report and its authors state.
The level of data centre infrastructure is very high for Panama, high for the Bahamas, Chile and Uruguay, moderate for Argentina, and low for Brazil. Finally, values for the CIP (Critical Protection Infrastructure) pillar are very high for Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, high for Argentina, and low for Panama.
Assessed on five criteria, the Bahamas was ranked fourth out of 26 for data centre development, behind only Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, but ahead of Argentina, Panama, Costa Rica and all Caribbean rivals.
This nations weakness was identified as the relatively high cost of electricity, given that data centres and communications networks require significant amounts of energy to operate. Operational costs as a percentage of communications company revenue was also high in the Bahamas.
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Bahamas Tops Caribbean On Data Centre Expansion - Bahamas Tribune
By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
A prominent governance reform campaigner warned yesterday that the Bahamas has "no time for mistakes" on fiscal reform, with Moody's having expressed alarm at the deterioration unveiled in the 2017-2018 Budget.
Robert Myers, a principal with the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG), told Tribune Business that this nation was "absolutely on the radar" of both credit rating agencies - Moody's and Standard & Poor's - reiterating that he, too, was shocked by the vast gulf in the fiscal forecasts between the Minnis administration and its predecessor.
"When one administration says that it is going to narrow the deficit and it doesn't happen, it just makes us all look stupid," he said. "That's not good from a number of standpoints; there are no ifs, ands or buts about it.
"The reality is that we have to do better with managing our fiscal affairs.
"We have to take this stuff very seriously or we are going to face some very hard socio-economic times."
Moody's recently warned that the Minnis administration's much-revised fiscal forecasts, and its planned $722 million borrowing, show this nation's fiscal strength was "much weaker" than it had bargained for.
The ratings agency wrote-off its previous projection that the Bahamas' direct government debt-to-GDP ratio would stabilise below 70 per cent, instead estimating that this will continue to climb through the 2019-2020 fiscal year - in contrast with the Government's forecast that it will peak near 73 per cent in 2017-2018.
Mr Myers said that while the Minnis administration appears to be saying the right things, how effective it can be remains to be seen. "The new administration is saying the right things for the most part," he agreed.
"The question remains how effective they can be in terms of making it happen, and does it have enough people who understand the changes that need to be made in order to make that happen.
"We really don't have time for mistakes.
"We need people in there that are going to do what they say and act responsibly.
"There needs to be a big shift in the culture of governance in this country."
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Moody's Shows Bahamas Has 'No Room For Mistakes' - Bahamas Tribune
Tournament Website
PHILADELPHIA Get out your sunblock, and book your flights the University of Pennsylvania womens basketball team is heading to the Bahamas! The 2016 and 2017 Ivy League Champions will play two games and celebrate Thanksgiving in the Caribbean during the 2017-18 season.
Penn will take on Georgia Tech and either Baylor or Missouri State as part of the 2017 Junkanoo Jam annual tournament. Penn will take on the Yellow Jackets in the opening round and will play one additional game as part of the event. Game dates and times are to be determined.
Under head coach Mike McLaughlin, the Quakers have made these destination trips a habit. Last season, the Quakers spent New Years Eve in Southern California where they posted two wins over UC Riverside and CSU Northridge to ring in the New Year. The Red and Blue have also competed in Italy, Hawaii, Miami, San Diego and Chicago in recent seasons.
"Our players hear me say it a lot, but it is true," McLaughlin said. "Their time as a student-athlete at Penn is all about the experience. We play to win no matter where we go, but it's not always just about basketball. These are trips, moments and games that they will remember their entire lives, and that's what these four years are truly about - strengthening friendships and making memories that will last a lifetime."
This will be the program's first trip to the Bahamas and more details on this trip will be available in the coming months. A complete 2017-18 schedule will be announced late this summer.
#FightOnPenn
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Bahamas Bound! Women's Basketball Set for Thanksgiving Caribbean Tournament - Penn Athletics
By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
TEAM Bahamas returned to the win column in regional play and closed out the current stage of the Rugby Americas North Cup Series in dominant fashion.
The team scored a 42-5 win over the Dominican Republic at the Centro Olmpico Juan Pablo Duarte in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, on June 3.
The win secured the second spot in the Rugby Americas North North Cup for the Bahamas. Both teams lost previous games to the Turks and Caicos Islands, who finished atop the group.
The Bahamas fell 26-16 to the visiting Turks and Caicos Islands at the Winton Rugby Centre on May 20, an historic win for the visiting side as they secured their first-ever victory against a full member of International World Rugby on the international 15 a-side stage.
TCI successfully defended home turf on May 4 with a 24-15 win over the Dominicans in the first game of the series.
The Dominican Republic, first-time participants in the tournament, aimed to repeat TCIs feat of winning their first match against an IRB side, but fell short.
During the DR/TCI matchup, the game produced an historic feat for the country, as Jamaal Curry became the first Bahamian ever to referee an officially sanctioned international rugby match.
In their last appearance at the Rugby Americas North Championship in June 2016, the Bahamas suffered consecutive losses to Mexico, Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
This years event marks the 10th edition of the RAN Championship, traditionally geared toward Tier 3 North American and Caribbean teams.
Pool play began on April 22 and will continue through July 1. Unlike last years tournament, 2017 will not serve as an iRB World Cup qualifying event and non World Rugby full member teams return to take part.
The North Zone returns to the 2015 format with a higher Championship level and a lower Cup level, however the South Zone has been reduced to one level of three teams.
The tournament has been divided into two competitions and three divisions, accompanied with a relegation and promotion system playoff. The two competitions are the Championship League (North Zone, South Zone) and the Cup League.
The Bahamas is a member of the Cup League, which features the aforementioned Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos Islands. Championship League includes Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Mexico and USA South in the North Zone. The South Zone includes Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The winners in the Cup League will earn an opportunity to play their way into the Championship League by facing off against the third place side among the Champions. Each division plays a single round robin. After pool play is complete, the winners play in the final on July 1.
Turks and Caicos Islands,
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Rugby Cup: Bahamas Routs Dominican Republic 42-5 - Bahamas Tribune
President Donald Trump speaks about the US role in the Paris climate change accord on Thursday, June 1, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP
THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed The Bahamas concern regarding the announced withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The ministry noted that The Bahamas remains committed to the climate accord.
While each nation must determine its own course on international matters, the prospect of the effects of climate change are particularly significant for low-lying, coastal, small island developing states (SIDS) such as The Bahamas, the very existence of which stands to be adversely impacted by climate change and global warming, a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.
The Bahamas remains committed to the Paris Agreement which was signed by 195 parties and ratified by 146 countries plus the European Union, and its aspiration to reduce risk to economies and lives everywhere, and to build a secure and sustainable world.
The Bahamas will continue to work with its partners in the context of the Paris Agreement, as well as its neighbours in the United States in ongoing efforts to mitigate the long-term effects of global weather on states in the region, the statement also noted.
Last Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing America from the Paris Agreement, which some critics see as a blow to the worldwide effort to counter global warming.
Were getting out, Mr Trump said Thursday at the White House. And we will start to renegotiate and well see if theres a better deal. If we can, great. If we cant, thats fine.
The decision was widely denounced by American politicians, pundits and leaders from around the world.
Former US President Barack Obama also criticised the move.
The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created, Mr Obama noted in a statement. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; Im confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up.
In May 2015, then Prime Minister Perry Christie told Parliament that with 80 per cent of The Bahamas land mass within one metre of sea level, climate change was a growing threat.
Our situation is rendered especially urgent in the face of information that ocean acidification, sea surface temperatures and sea levels are already rising, he said.
These processes, particularly sea-level rise, will therefore irreversibly change the geography and ecology of many coastal states and territories. It has been projected that responding to these factors can have particularly disastrous consequences, causing a perpetual recession in each of the Caricom member states for a significant period as our infrastructure, built environment, settlements and economic well-being are concentrated in coastal areas prone to flooding and inundation.
The regions challenge associated with the ongoing climate change negotiations is that even if the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2(degrees Celsius) is achieved, the Caribbean will experience severe adverse impacts for which stronger programmes of adaptation would have to be implemented, Mr Christie said at the time.
America joined Nicaragua and Syria as the only nations that did not sign the Paris Agreement.
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Bahamas Alarm At Us Withdrawal From Paris Climate Change Deal - Bahamas Tribune
Offshore wind giant Dong Energy has become the first to plug an offshore wind farm into a battery system to store power to be used as needed.
The world-first hybrid system has powered up on the Merseyside coast to store electricity generated from the first phase of Dong Energys 90 megawatt (MW) Burbo Bank wind farm in order to help to balance the frequency of the power grid.
The new 2MW battery system helps to combat criticism that renewable power could lead to flickering light bulbs, or even blackouts, by disrupting the normal power grid frequency of around 50 hertz.
Richard Smith, National Grids head of networks, said the system operator plans to call on Dong Energy to release electricity into the grid to help stabilise the frequency.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how the Dong Energy solution of storage connected to the offshore wind farm will provide services to help us respond to day-to-day operational challenges," he said.
Benj Sykes, Dong Energys UK boss, told The Telegraph last month that battery storage technology is a game changer for the booming offshore wind market.
Mr Sykes was speaking ahead of the launch of the second phase of the Burbo Bank offshore wind project which uses the worlds largest operating wind turbines to produce almost 260MW of power.
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Dong Energy plugs offshore wind farm into world-first battery system - Telegraph.co.uk
What is 'Offshore'
Offshore identifies any item that is located or based outside of one's national boundaries. The term "offshore" is used to describe foreign banks, corporations, investments and deposits. A company may legitimately move offshore for the purpose of tax avoidance or to enjoy relaxed regulations. Offshore financial institutions can also be used for illicit purposes such as money laundering and tax evasion.
Offshore can refer to a variety of foreign-based entities or accounts. In order to qualify as offshore, the accounts must be based in any country other than the customers or investors home nation, existing somewhat separately from the persons other resources and assets.
In the terms of business activities, offshoring is often referred to as outsourcing. This is the act of establishing certain portions of the business functions, such as manufacturing or call centers, in a nation other than the one in which the business most often does business. This is often done to take advantage of more favorable conditions in a foreign country, such as lower wage requirements or looser regulations, and can result in significant cost savings for the business.
Offshore investing can involve any situation in which the investors reside outside of the nation in which they are investing. This may require the creation of accounts in the nation in which the investor wishes to participate.
Offshore banking involves the securing of assets in financial institutions in foreign countries. This practice, which may be limited by the laws of the customers home nation, can be used to avoid certain unfavorable circumstances should the funds be kept in a financial institution in the home nation. This can include the avoidance of tax obligations as well as making it more difficult for these assets to be seized by a person or entity in the home nation. For those who work internationally, the ability to save and use funds in a foreign currency for international dealings can be a benefit. This can provide a simpler way to access funds in the needed currency without have to account for rapidly changing exchange rates.
Due to the fact that banking regulations vary from nation to nation, it is possible the country in which your funds are located does not offer the same protections as other nations.
Businesses with significant sales overseas, such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., may take the opportunity to keep related profits overseas in markets with lower tax burdens. In 2015, it was estimated that $2.10 trillion in profits were held overseas, across 304 U.S. corporations, which was an 8% rise when compared to 2014.
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June 7, 2017 Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Offshore wind turbines built according to current standards may not be able to withstand the powerful gusts of a Category 5 hurricane, creating potential risk for any such turbines built in hurricane-prone areas, new University of Colorado Boulder-led research shows.
The study, which was conducted in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, highlights the limitations of current turbine design and could provide guidance for manufacturers and engineers looking to build more hurricane-resilient turbines in the future.
Offshore wind-energy development in the U.S. has ramped up in recent years, with projects either under consideration or already underway in most Atlantic coastal states from Maine to the Carolinas, as well as the West Coast and Great Lakes. The country's first utility-scale offshore wind farm, consisting of five turbines, began commercial operation in December 2016 off the coast of Rhode Island.
Turbine design standards are governed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For offshore turbines, no specific guidelines for hurricane-force winds exist. Offshore turbines can be built larger than land-based turbines, however, owing to a manufacturer's ability to transport larger molded components such as blades via freighter rather than over land by rail or truck.
For the study, CU Boulder researchers set out to test the limits of the existing design standard. Due to a lack of observational data across the height of a wind turbine, they instead used large-eddy simulations to create a powerful hurricane with a computer.
"We wanted to understand the worst-case scenario for offshore wind turbines, and for hurricanes, that's a Category 5," said Rochelle Worsnop, a graduate researcher in CU Boulder's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) and lead author of the study.
These uniquely high-resolution simulations showed that under Category 5 conditions, mean wind speeds near the storm's eyewall reached 90 meters-per-second, well in excess of the 50 meters-per-second threshold set by current standards.
"Wind speeds of this magnitude have been observed in hurricanes before, but in only a few cases, and these observations are often questioned because of the hazardous conditions and limitations of instruments," said George Bryan of NCAR and a co-author of the study. "By using large-eddy simulations, we are able to show how such winds can develop and where they occur within hurricanes."
Furthermore, current standards do not account for veer, a measure of the change in wind direction across a vertical span. In the simulation, wind direction changed by as much as 55 degrees between the tip of the rotor and its hub, creating a potentially dangerous strain on the blade.
The findings could be used to help wind farm developers improve design standards as well as to help stakeholders make informed decisions about the costs, benefits and risks of placing turbines in hurricane-prone areas.
"The study will help inform design choices before offshore wind energy development ramps up in hurricane-prone regions," said Worsnop, who received funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program to conduct this research. "We hope that this research will aid wind turbine manufacturers and developers in successfully tapping into the incredibly powerful wind resource just beyond our coastlines."
"Success could mean either building turbines that can survive these extreme conditions, or by understanding the overall risk so that risks can be mitigated, perhaps with financial instruments like insurance," said Professor Julie Lundquist of ATOC and CU Boulder's Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), a co-author of the study. "The next stage of this work would be to assess how often these extreme winds would impact an offshore wind farm on the Atlantic coast over the 20-to-30-year lifetime of a typical wind farm."
The findings were recently published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
Explore further: Utility plans vote on New York offshore wind project
More information: Rochelle P. Worsnop et al, Gusts and Shear Within Hurricane Eyewalls Can Exceed Offshore Wind-Turbine Design Standards, Geophysical Research Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2017GL073537
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I think Al Gore said storms will get bigger in the future so what do we do, build the most vulnerable power system to storms, brilliant !!
Is there any type of power plant that isn't vulnerable to category 5 eye wall winds?
I am not generally a proponent of building "better technology" on a never ending scale to deal with problems the existing technology has caused since the newer technology tends to create problems of it's own. In this case I fervently hope to be proven incorrect. Since we are not wise enough of a species to greatly reduce the number of our species we will simply have to make do with structures that can handle the situational stresses we have created or excacerbated.
50 k wind and the wind turbines shutdown.
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Offshore wind turbines vulnerable to Category 5 hurricane gusts - Phys.Org
Danish wind manufacturer MHI Vestas launched a 9.5-megawatt offshore turbine this week. The machine is an upgrade from the company's 9-megawatt model released earlier this year.
In January, Vestas reported that its new machine -- an 8-megawatt-capacity turbine that can be uprated to 9 megawatts at certain sites -- generated216,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in one day. That was a record for any commercial offshore wind turbine, according to the company.
Vestas also says its 9.5-megawatt model, which features blades that are 80 meters long, can produce enough electricity to power more than 8,000 U.K homes.
"With only minimal design changes, including a redesigned gearbox and cooling system upgrades, this turbine continues the legacy of the proven V164 platform and is available now to all MHI Vestas customers," saidTorben Hvid Larsen, the company's chief technology officer,in a statement.
Vestas is at the leading edge of turbine design. Windpower Monthly has a list of the biggest turbines on the market today. The Vestas V164 8-megawatt model topped the rankings.
In less than a year, the V164platform was expanded to 9.5 megawatts.
Manufacturers are regularly developing turbines rated in the 5- to 8-megawatt range. Some are already looking beyond 10-megawatt designs -- and researchers are even toying with the idea of 50-megawatt capacity turbines.
"For many years, 3- to 4-megawatt turbines were standard; now 8- to 10-megawatt models are common, and by 2024, 13- to 15-megawatt models will likely hit the market," wrote McKinsey researchersin a recent analysison the economics of offshore wind.
"This reduces the cost per megawatt. Even as turbines have become larger, they have also become better. In the 1990s, the expected lifetime of offshore wind parks was only 15 years; now it is closer to 25 years, and new sites project an operational lifetime of 30 years."
Meanwhile, energy supermajors are looking to use those mega-turbines to build out mega-projects.
Shell said this week it is eyeing 10-gigawatt offshore wind parks, according to Recharge News.
We believe that a few large, integrated projects up to 10 gigawatts, with an anchor tenant who takes the biggest risk for about half the project, need to be developed to ensure we all learn how best to do this" saidMark Gainsborough, the executive vice president of Shell New Energies, speaking at a European offshore wind conference.
Shell has an equity stake in half a dozen offshore wind farms around the world. In December, it partnered with Mitsubishi and a group of Danish companies to develop a 700-megawatt offshore project.
What's driving wind technology change? Listen to our Interchange episode with Ryan Wiser, who discusses the evolution of turbine size and applications.
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Vestas Launches 9.5-Megawatt Offshore Wind Turbine; Shell Looks ... - Greentech Media
Recharge (subscription) | DONG Energy to Incorporate Batteries Into UK Offshore Wind Farm ... New York Times Danish state-controlled utility and wind power developer DONG Energy will install a battery system at its Burbo Bank Offshore wind farm off the coast of Britain to ... Dong to link Burbo Bank to battery in offshore wind first | Recharge Dong Energy to launch battery solution at offshore windfarm Dong to add 2-MW battery at UK offshore wind farm |
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DONG Energy to Incorporate Batteries Into UK Offshore Wind Farm ... - New York Times