Category Archives: Resource Based Economy

Not many commodities are hot anymore; investors are quite comfortable shunning the segment. But perhaps you may want to know about a commodity that in contrast is particularly overheated these days.

Natural gas firm service transportation out of Alberta, for the upcoming winter season.

Firm service prices are being bid up to unusual levels, even in the face of a relatively low commodity price forecast. Producers appear somewhat panicked about their ability to access markets for their natural gas. This is understandable; current market conditions for AECO-priced gas are extremely shaky with some forecasts of sub $1 gas for the next few weeks due to capacity constraints. This happens not infrequently whenever there is a pipeline outage for western Canadian production, which has few market options. It is also a sign of the times that the producers are desperate to access markets that are in the shadow of potential US shale output, which could spring to life at the sign of any price increases. Thats not normal behaviour, its an indication of how few options gas producers have.

This might seem an inconsequential irritant to the industry, the only byproduct of which would be cheaper gas for consumers. But its actually a big red flag warning of underlying problems. And then, right on top of this fiasco, lands the news that the $36 billion Pacific North West LNG export terminal will not proceed . Petronas, the major partner in the project, politely blamed market conditions, which might be believable were it not for the numerous US LNG export facilities marching towards completion.

Canada is about to have two of its major economic engines strangled into near oblivion while we stand around and watch. First was the oil sands, and now natural gas development is being throttled. As a country, we are playing with fire. Or maybe more accurately, putting out a fire that weve been relying on.

We all know that oil sands investment has pretty much stopped dead, knocking out one of the bigger lights in the Canadian economy. Natural gas might follow a similar path if it becomes a stranded commodity that can only be sold at ridiculous discounts. It is true that both the Alliance and TCPL systems are working to handle substantially more gas in the next few years, but that gas will still be destined for highly competitive US markets that already are digesting growing shale production. The result will be reduced netbacks all the way to Canada.

Capital will not flow into Canadian natural gas developments indefinitely when the only markets are severely discounted ones; at some point investors will tire of pumping money into a sector whose product sells at 20 year lows (and they maybe already have). Lower corporate netbacks and decreased investment levels may not make headlines immediately, but those factors surely will prick up ears when people hear about government deficits growing by tens of billions.

The Canadian economy is under attack on multiple fronts. The softwood lumber industry is once again getting slapped around by the US. If one removes lumber, and oil and gas from Canadas economic equation, or large parts thereof, there will be a massive government revenue gap and the only way the economic equation can be balanced will be to slash the spending side, such as on our vaunted social safety nets.

Oil, gas and lumber are tough shoes to fill for the nation. Manufacturing is big for southern Ontario, but not so much for the rest of the country. Hydroelectric energy is great, now that its been built, but creating any new dams will (or should) trigger the same blizzard of outrage that any petroleum based megaproject now does. Please dont point to other green energy sources for economic salvation; Ontarios fiasco of subsidizing renewable energy sources has created an unsustainable and bizarre power market where consumers cant afford the power bills and renewable energy sources reap huge benefits, all through the miracle of unsustainable mountains of government debt.

Canada is a resource-based nation. We may want to get away from that, and at some point we will, but if we decide to make the big switch in the near future wed better be ready for the pain that will be part of the ride. We cant continue in a half hearted manner where we accept low returns by keeping our product from markets where it will be welcomed. That only serves to make our production schemes uncompetitive in a global marketplace, and weve seen recently how quickly capital can evaporate when better opportunities exist elsewhere.

The environmental movement cheers these sorts of things, because any hindrance to petroleum development is a good thing in their eyes. If they get their wish, the world will get to witness firsthand the effects of strangling one of the worlds strongest, safest, cleanest, and most progressive economies, because the debt fairies wont hang around forever to watch it all implode. And on the flip side, for those who think strangling Canadas energy sector will save the planet, remember that Canada in total is responsible for about 2 percent of global greenhouse gases. There is nothing Canada can do short of shutting itself down that will have a meaningful impact on global emissions.

Wake up, Canada! We are presently a resource-based economy. Every resource based economy on earth tries to diversify, but its not easy. It wont be for us either. No matter how green you see the future, the path to get there must be a gradual one to avoid economic chaos. For now, our social infrastructure and standard of living are financed by natural resources, and we are accepting a fraction of the value we could be getting by strangling ourselves in red tape and second guessing. To get to a green future, we must first not kill the golden goose.

Either get behind energy megaprojects by demanding more of our politicians, or be prepared for a substantially reduced standard of living. The death of these developments, one by one, impacts us all.

Read more insightful analysis from Terry Etam here

See the article here:

Wake up Canada! Get behind energy megaprojects or get ready for the consequences - BOE Report (press release)

The latest quarterly Cross-border M&A Index shows that there were 17 inbound M&A deals in Africa in Q2 of 2017. The 17 inbound deals reflect a 48% drop from 33 deals in Q2 2016. On a quarter-by-quarter basis, inbound deal volume also dropped - by 45% - from 31 deals in Q1 2017.

Morne van der Merwe, managing partner of Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg explains, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Africa has decreased and this will continue until the local investment climate stabilises. Due to the credit ratings downgrades, the cost of raising capital for acquisitions has become more expensive, making deals more difficult. In addition, the Rand has been one of the most volatile currencies in 2017 and this volatility has suppressed deal appetite.

These factors, combined with recent political instability and uncertainty, have resulted in a perception in the market of increased risks of doing business in South Africa. Global players are finding more attractive investment destinations elsewhere.

Further, almost half the continents M&A activity flows through South Africa, so recent South African developments have had a negative knock-on effect in Africa. Political uncertainty in other jurisdictions on the continent, such as the current election in Kenya, has also made investors wary of African deal making in the short term, although we expect this to change once stability returns to the region.

The top target industry by volume and value in Africa was mining, which accounted for 23% of total deal count and $312 million or 40% of total value.

Africa has several technology hubs, including one in Cape Town, South Africa and the development of technology in the banking and finance sector, for mass usage on the continent, is well advanced. A positive explanation for there being no inbound deals in this sector in Q2 2017, is that this is not due to lack of IT development in Africa, to the contrary, but because IT companies are structuring their operations in a way that allows them to enter into partnerships offshore and bring their operations into Africa through licencing arrangements.

It is surprising that Australia was the highest inbound investor country by deal volume as one would expect it to be China or India. Australia is a resource-based economy, with the knowledge, know-how and asset base to attach to opportunities in Africa, so it does make sense that it would be investing heavily in African businesses.

Asia Pacific and the European Union were tied as top investing regions by volume, each accounting for 35% of total deal count. By value, Asia Pacific outpaced the rest with $487 million or 62% of total.

Technology tied with Business Services was a top target industry for Africas outbound deals by volume with a total of three deals for the quarter (20% of total). In terms of deal value, the Financial Services sector led slightly with $ 535 million or 35% of total deals. Technology deals came in close second, accounting for $510 million or 33% of total outbound deals from Africa.

Increase in development in African telecoms industries, as well as the opportunities presented by a rapidly developing financial services sector, remain key drivers of outbound investment activity in Africa. The growing financial services sector has also seen domestic banks make significant investments in technology, including in offshore companies. As discussed, the increase in outbound deals in the technology sector also points to African technology companies looking to base their local operations offshore.

The Index also shows that South Africa outperformed other African bidders by volume and value for outbound deals, with eight deals (53% of total) amounting to $821 million (54% of total). Top target regions for outbound deals were EU and Asia Pacific by volume, each with 40% share of total. The top target country from Africa by volume was India, with three deals accounting for 20% of total deal count.

Buyers announced 1,368 cross-border deals worth $345.8 billion, a 10% decrease in volume but only a 1% decrease in value compared to Q1 2017. As the EU gained relative stability in the wake of Brexit developments and elections in the region, it accounted for more than half of cross-border deal value and nearly half of cross-border deal volume in Q2 2017. Baker McKenzie's Cross-Border M&A Index, which tracks quarterly deal activity using a baseline score of 100, decreased to 233 for Q2 2017, down 4% from the prior quarter but up 15% from Q2 2016. In Q2 2017, cross-border M&A made up 36% and 47% of global deal volume and value, respectively.

We continue to see an increase in deal value as companies are choosing to invest more money in a smaller number of handpicked deals, said Michael DeFranco, global head of M&A at Baker McKenzie. While deal volume decreased in Q2, we are encouraged by the activity in the EU and the return of China to the deal table. As we head into the second half of 2017, we continue to believe M&A activity will pick up.

The leading bidders for cross-border deals into the EU were the US, China, and UAE, in addition to cross-regional deals from companies in the UK and Italy. Seven of the top ten most targeted countries in Q2 2017 were in the EU, compared to only four in Q1 2017.

For more information, go to crossbordermaindex.bakermckenzie.com.

Originally posted here:

M&A deals in Africa drop this quarter with South African political ... - Bizcommunity.com

Since the Finkel review was announced it has been open season for notion building in the energy space. While Malcolm has been pumping Snowy 2.zero, Craig has been promising death by renewables, quite literally. Josh seems to be for just about everything, besides Labor state governments of course, and reckons we are on track to meet Paris commitments. Barnaby, true to form, is backing coal, reckoning Paris can take care of itself, while Electricity Bill is keeping mum, knowing it wont but banking it will.

The one I like the best, but really hasnt been nailed quite the way I thought it should, is Tonys call for nuclear subs. Imagine, our first truly dispatchable power system, capable of delivering a few hundred megawatts just about anywhere you need it. Defending the grid with RANpower float and plug technology, just what we need to shore up our fragile energy system. A tour of dispatch last year including Tasmania from January through June, South Australia June through November, and then on to Queensland for the summer would have been a nice little money spinner for the Navy, worth around quarter of a billion dollars on the energy markets. And that doesnt include offsets, such as the purported $44 million Tasmanian government spent on diesel gensets. Could it be our best notion yet for meeting Paris?

It goes without saying that our political masters dont need much provocation to indulge in a bit of notion building. After all, it is what they do best.

But, in case you are wondering why this sudden release of energy, it might be useful to reflect on some recent analyses that paint a truly disturbing picture for our energy sector.

The first comes from the European Commissions latest electricity market update providing the comparison of wholesale electricity prices shown below.

International wholesale prices as adapted from Figure 33 in the European Commissions Quarterly report on European electricity markets Q1 2017. Average prices for the 4th quarter of 2014, 3rd quarter 2015, and the first quarter of 2017, are referenced as a percentage of Australian prices. Image: Figure 33, Quarterly report on European electricity markets Q1 2017, https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/quarterly_report_on_european_electricity_markets_q1_2017.pdf

As recently as three years ago our electricity wholesale prices were low by any measure. In fact according to the ECs analysis our market prices then briefly dipped below those in the US. Then, ours were just 20% of the Japanese price.

How times have changed.

According to the ECs latest analysis our prices tracked pretty closely with the US until the second half of 2015. It seems things to start going awry just about when Josh received the poison chalice as Minister for Energy and Resources.

Six quarters later and the EC now estimates that for Quarter 1 this year our prices were a staggering 400% higher than in the US.

This last quarter we even managed to top Japan, which is some achievement considering that across the quarter we exported some20 million tonnes of our thermal coal and over half a million tonnes of LNG to help them sure up a power system still reverberating from the shock waves of Fukushima. Thats about half as much thermal coal as used to power our system.

The second comes from BPs latest Statistical Review of World Energy released in June, which provides national figures for all things related to energy production and consumption, including sector wide emissions.

According to BPs latest figures our energy sector produced about 409 million tonnes of CO2 in 2016. That amounts to 16.7 tonnes for every Australian. On a per capita basis, that puts our energy sector a touch above the next most emissions intensive economy in the developed world - the US at 16.5 tonnes. Even Canada, which has a resource based economy more comparable to our own, gets away with only 14.6 tonnes per person.

Trends in per capita emissions for select countries (in tonnes per person), plotted as a function of GDP (in $US purchasing power parity terms). Emission data from BPs Statistical review of World Energy. GDP and population data from IMF. Time series start in 1981 (on left) and continue to 2016 (on right). Dots show 2009, in the wake of the GFC

Worryingly, relative to 2005 levels our energy sector emissions are up about 10%, which stands in stark contrast to most other advanced economies, and especially the US, down 12% over the same interval.

National energy sector emissions for select advanced economies, relative to 2005 levels, using data from BPs latest Statistical Review of World Energy released in June. Australias Paris commitment is to reduce national emissions to 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. Note that for Australia energy sector emissions (including transport and power) account for about 2/3 the total emissions

So the notion that we are on track to meet Paris is, at best, notional.

To achieve such extraordinary wholesale price outcomes, one might imagine something remarkable had happened to our energy system since 2014. Our Coal-cons such as Craig Kelly would believe it is because our power system is groaning under the weight of renewable production.

But maybe its the absence of renewables. Or maybe it is both, peskily masked in a cloak of invisibility. Check out the figure below, which shows our electricity production by key fuel group (coal, gas and renewables) over the period since our power prices have risen from the lowest to highest on the international pecking order.

Weekly average production of electricity by three main fuel group types (in gigawatts), dispatched on the National Electricity Market over the last five years. Data sourced from AEMO, using Dylan McConnells openNEM. RE (renewables) includes hydro, wind and large scale solar and biomass, but not rooftop PV which is not dispatched onto the market

Can you determine a trend that could account for anything? Im damned if I can.

And that in itself is sure to be worry enough to keep it open season on notion building for a long time to come.

For those interested, some more detailed discussion of the crisis besetting the National Electricity Market (NEM) in eastern Australia can be found in my Anatomy of an Energy Crisis series, Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.

In response to some of the discussion I show below the equivalent of the last diagram above, split out into the various regional markets that makeup the mainland portion of the NEM.

Weekly average production of electricity by three main fuel group types (in gigawatts), for each of the four mainland regional markets on the National Electricity Market over the last five years. Data sourced from AEMO, using Dylan McConnells openNEM. RE (renewables) includes hydro, wind and large scale solar and biomass, but not rooftop PV which is not dispatched onto the market

Mike Sandiford, Chair of Geology & Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Open season for our notion-building pollies - Architecture and Design

Over the past year, the West Virginia Community Development Hub has been working to foster entrepreneurship in communities throughout West Virginia.

"Here at The Hub, we've seen energy around new business in the recreation and tourism sectors skyrocket," said Dan Taylor, entrepreneurial Communities Program Coordinator for the non-profit group.

Taylor says The Hub, based in Clarksburg, W.Va., has been around for over 10 years.

"We have been working all over the state to help communities that may not have the capacity or resources to do community-type projects," he said.

Taylor works in the coalfield communities in the southern part of state to help diversify their economies by working with the folks in the community.

One project Taylor says The Hub is working on involves the Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trails.

"As people come to ride the trail, they are also looking for other recreational activities," Taylor said. "So, we are working with communities in southern West Virginia with natural assets like trails and waterways to create these recreational opportunities for visitors."

The Hatfield-McCoy Trails is made up of over 700 miles of trails in southern West Virginia. As one of the largest off-highway vehicle trail systems in the world, Hatfield-McCoy Trails is open 365 days a year and offers something for every skill level.

Taylor says The Hub's Innovation Acceleration Strategy (IAS) program is a year-long community-based economic diversification planning process.

"The West Virginia Community Development Hub will be working with five communities in Southern West Virginia who are ready, willing and able to start identifying what they want to see in their community, and planning on how to grow and build these sectors," he explained. "Those communities are Alderson and Madison, and McDowell, Lincoln and Wyoming counties."

The Hatfield-McCoy Trails range from the scenic mountain views of Pinnacle Creek, to the tight and twisting trails of Bearwallow. Many trails connect to West Virginia's "ATV friendly towns" where visitors can grab a bite to eat and add to the local economy, Taylor said.

Taylor says his group has also seen land-based trail projects around hiking and biking from The Hub's previous innovation acceleration program in communities from Boone County to Wyoming County.

"With an uptick in resources available to communities as well through things like the Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER program, which has put $92 million within the past year into the region for economic development, it is important for residents here to know about what is available and be able to connect with these opportunities to grow not only their local economy but their own prosperity," Taylor added.

Just last month at a convening of POWER grantees in Huntington, Jeff Lusk, director of the Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority, which operates the Hatfield-McCoy Trails system, said the ARC's $1.3 million POWER grant to their organization will be used to help expand tourism-related business opportunities along the Hatfield McCoy Trail.

"We look forward to seeing what additional helpful resources are on the horizon for our region when it comes to growing our recreation and tourism economy," Taylor said.

Economic Impact Study

In the Summer of 2014, Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research completed an updated economic impact study for the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority.

Hatfield-McCoy Trails for day-to-day operations generated an additional $1.6 million in economic activity within the state, for a total operational impact of $3.3 million, according to the report.

Even more notably, the Hatfield-McCoy Trails bring non-local visitors to the area whose spending is estimated to generate an additional $19 million in economic activity in West Virginia.

Together, the total estimated economic impact of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails is more than $22 million.

The economic activity generated by the Hatfield-McCoy Trails' operations and visitors also yields tax revenues. The trails impacts the state and local tax base by nearly $120,000 annually, the report stated.

When considering the estimated total employment sustained by the presence of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, an annual state and local tax benefit of more than $455,500 is estimated.

An additional fiscal benefit to the state of more than $1.5 million is estimated as a result of non-local visitor spending while visiting the Hatfield-McCoy Trails.

In addition to providing data for estimating the visitor spending impact of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, the rider survey included in the report indicated largely positive experiences among riders.

"The vast majority of respondents reported a good or excellent experience with the Hatfield-McCoy Trails overall, and more than 97 percent of riders surveyed would recommend the trails to others," the report stated.

Entrepreneurship and Business Coaching Center

This month, Kristina Oliver accepted the position of Program Administrator for Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College's new Entrepreneurship and Business Coaching Center.

"I am reaching out to businesses, West Virginia small business champions, economic developers, resource partners and service providers regarding a new initiative that I am excited to lead," she said.

Oliver said the Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority in partnership with Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College, the Natural Capital Investment Fund and West Virginia State University have partnered to create an entrepreneurial training and business coaching program in the Coalfields of southern West Virginia.

"The project, which was funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Power Plus initiative, will increase tourism and entrepreneurship in southern West Virginia to create a sustainable tourism based economy," Oliver explained.

She said this initiative focuses on a nine-county region of the state, including Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wyoming, Lincoln, Wayne, Kanawha, McDowell and Mercer counties.

"I have much respect and admiration for the great work being done by many organizations and entities throughout West Virginia to help increase small-business success," she said. "With this new Center, we will offer business coaching, targeted consulting and impactful training to help existing businesses and to help encourage new business growth."

Powersports Technology Program

Last year, the college launched a Powersports Technology Program to teach students to service, repair, and maintain a variety of powersports equipment like motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and personal watercraft.

"The program graduates are prepared to be entry-level technicians and most often work as service technicians, but may also find employment as service writers, parts department personnel and sales staff," Oliver said.

The full Powersports Technology Program is available on the Boone/Lincoln Campus. The Logan, Williamson, and Wyoming/McDowell campuses offer the general education/program support courses only.

For more information about this program, reach out to technology@southernwv.edu.

Follow reporter Fred Pace at Facebook.com/FredPaceHD and via Twitter at @FredPaceHD.

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Tourism brings business opportunities - Williamson Daily News

Published on July 25th, 2017 | by Tina Casey

July 25th, 2017 by Tina Casey

So, this is weird. In one corner, you have US President* Donald J. Trump talking up the fossil fuel industry and denying climate change, and meanwhile his Department of Energy is touting a breakthrough in biofuel production and dropping another $40 million on new research aimed at ramping up the bio-based economy of the future.

Yes, they use the b-word (bio-based). That sure sounds like US energy policy is aiming at decarbonization, despite the promises Trump made to coal miners during and after his successful bid for the White House.

CleanTechnica took a quick note of the new $40 million in funding last week, which was officially designated Made in America Week by the Trump Administration.

As has become his habit, Energy Secretary Rick Perry went off in his own direction during Made in America Week to make a rousing pitch for the US wind industry a growing manufacturing sector that somehow escaped Trumps celebration of all things made in the USA.

Perry also shared his agencys affection for the bioeconomy of the future during Made in America week.

The Department of Energy kicked the week off with a splashy announcement for the new $40 million funding program, which will go to three existing research consortia called the Bioenergy Research Centers,and to establish a new one, too.

The research centers aim at ramping up the efficiency of biofuel production and other bio-products:

The centers each led by a DOE National Laboratory or a top university are designed to lay the scientific groundwork for a new bio-based economy that promises to yield a range of important new products and fuels derived directly from nonfood biomass.

Science!

The $40 million is just seed money, btw. The Energy Department is planning on a 5 year funding program for the initiative.

Notably, Secretary Perry does not seem to be on board with the Trump Administrations fossil-friendly energy policy. Heres his pitch for the research centers:

The revolution of modern biology has opened up vast new opportunities for the energy industry to develop and utilize products derived from biomass as a sustainable resource. These centers will accelerate the development of the basic science and technological foundation needed to ensure that American industry and the American public reap the benefits of the new bio-based economy.

Yep, he said the b-word.

CleanTechnica has also noticed that Perry has been steadily building on Obama-era renewable energy initiatives some of which were launched even farther back and the new research centers provide yet another example.

The Energy Department makes this clear:

The current awards represent a follow-on phase to the original DOE Bioenergy Research Centers program, established by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOEs Office of Science in 2007

That program established three Bioenergy Research Centers, credited thusly:

Over ten years, these three BRCs produced multiple breakthroughs in the form of deepened understanding of sustainable agricultural practices, major reengineering of plant feedstocks, development of new methods of deconstructing feedstocks, and reengineering of microbes for more effective fuel production.

With the addition of a fourth research center, expect more of the same, including patents (the original three centers produced 92) and license options (191 and counting).

The three existing centers are spearheaded by the University of WisconsinMadison in partnership with Michigan State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The fourth center will be led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which counts using plants themselves as sustainable biofactories as one of its areas of expertise.

The Trump Administrations ramped-up commitment to the biochemical sector is an interesting development considering that Exxon and other fossil stakeholders appear to be depending on the US shale gas and petrochemical industries to make up for lost ground as renewables edge into their power production and transportation fuel turf.

The oil giants have been dropping billions on new petrochemical and gas-to-plastics facilities in Texas, taking advantage of the shale gas boom and access to shipping routes. Thats partly in anticipation of increased demand for plastic products among emerging economies overseas.

In the most recent example, petrochem giant LyondellBasell is planning to build a $2.4 billion plant in Texas, which will be the largest facility of its kind in the world.

So, what are they going to do with all these gigantic, expensive petrochemical plants when the bio-based economy of the future swings into full gear?

Possibly, re-fit them to process bio-based feedstock. Just a wild guess. If you have any thoughts on that, drop a note in the comment thread.

Low oil prices have thrown a monkey wrench into the biofuel market, but the good news is that the competition has made it more urgent for the biofuel industry to develop better, faster, cheaper ways to pump out its product.

Secretary Perry used the occasion of Made in America Week to spotlight his agencys latest contribution to technology breakthroughs in the biofuel industry, featured as the part of the EERE Success Stories series of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The new breakthrough involves a type of biofuel production process that depends on high-tech membranes to perform a series of steps to separate carbon from algae and other liquefied biomass feedstocks. These steps can account for as much as half the cost of biofuel production, so getting costs down will have a significant impact on the final product.

In the conventional approach, the separation steps are based on different sizes of the pores in the membrane. The problem is that the steps with smaller sizes slow down the process.

The new membrane adds another twist:

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory set out to determine what could increase production speeds and improve the quality of biofuels and bioproducts. What they discovered is a new class of porous membranesa high performance architecture surface-selective (HIPAS) membrane technology.

ORNLs HiPAS membranes are innovative in that they do not rely solely on pore size to separate carbon. Instead, the new membranes use nanotechnology coatings to change the shape of the pores, allowing for 10-fold larger pore size with the same separation efficiency as traditional membranes.

ORNL has been working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to figure out which applications show the best promising.

Commercial application is somewhere out in the future but so far the results are promising. The labs anticipate that a 12% drop in the cost of algae biofuel could be leveraged with the new membrane.

In addition to biofuel, the new membrane also has potential biochemical and pharmaceutical applications.

The petrochemical industry could also put it to use, so stay tuned.

Follow me on Twitter.

Image: US Department of Energy, This figure shows the selective permeability and higher throughput of HiPAS membranes in a biomass to bioproduct conversion process. In this example, the membranes separate water vapor from high value chemicals in the product stream.

*As of this writing.

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Tags: Bioenergy Research, Bioenergy Research Centers, DOE, Donald Trump, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Made in America, Michigan State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, rick perry, Texas, University of WisconsinMadison

Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tinas articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.

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US Energy Dept. Goes Rogue On Biofuel, Celebrates Bio-Based Economy - CleanTechnica

Ive been learning lately that among those who analyze and think about the environment and sustainability, I am considered an optimist. While I believe it is a useful analytic exercise to spin out worst case scenarios, I dont typically find them persuasive. Perhaps its because of the progress Ive seen in so many areas over the past several decades. The environment, civil rights, feminism, gay rights, the internet, the smartphone, the revival of my home city of New York, the career of Derek Jeter and the promise of Aaron Judgethose are all sources of hope. I do see the setbacks: money in politics, income inequality, terrorism, authoritarianism, the destruction of species and ecosystems and, of course, our current obsession, Trumpism. But I simply refuse to be defined by what is wrong and find myself far more interested in building on what is right.

The recent birth of my first grandchild reinforces my desire to believe that the world that she will inherit will be at least as good as my world, if not better. At the start of my graduate studies, I remember reading Robert Heilbroners, An Inquiry into the Human Prospect and its remarkable postscript, What Has Posterity Ever Done for Me? Heilbroner admitted there was no economically rational way to justify a concern for the distant future, but nevertheless believed that we would still somehow manage to care about it. In one version of this essay, published in the New York Times in 1975, he observed that:

I am mindful of the short-sighted, self-centered approach to climate change and environmental protection pushed by Pruitt, Trump, the Koch brothers and all the boys in their school yard, but I think it is a dying view that is enjoying its final days in the sun. I could be wrong, but like Heilbroner, I believe that the images of a world in danger, now magnified by the world wide web and brought to every corner of the planet instantly, will provide the experience that Heibroner spoke of some four decades ago. I see many signs that this change is already well underway.

Heilbroner, along with many others reflecting the concepts of The Limits to Growth, spoke of the need to forgo the benefits of modern technology if we were to save the world. He thought we needed to return to a simpler, less consumptive, less technological time. The view in the last century was that through guilt, and possibly public policies such as taxes or regulations like Chinas one child policy, we could forcefully reduce human impact on the environment.

In the half century since the start of the environmental era I have seen no sign that reduced consumption was politically, economically or socially feasible. The progress we have seen has been through the application of technology to reduce pollution, plan family size, increase the efficiency of production and consumption, change consumption, and develop renewable resources. Why has reduced consumption been rejected? First, in the developed world, any absence of economic prosperity is rapidly translated into political pressure against the regime in power. Or, as Bill Clintons political strategists famously observed, its the economy, stupid. In the developing world, particularly in the internet era, people see the lifestyles in the developed world and want that lifestyle, if not for themselves, for their children.

In other words, people like this stuff. The food, the cars, the jet planes, the air conditioning, the entertainment, and all the accoutrements of modern life. We want it enough that once we achieve developed status, we are finding birth rates going down because children have proven to be expensive and we want to make sure we have sufficient money to buy the stuff we want. The absence of economic well-being in a developed nation or inadequate progress toward economic development in a developing nation is politically destabilizing. In a world where the technology of destruction is advancing rapidly, political stability is more prized than ever.

While the policy of consumption denial seems infeasible to me, there is another policy direction that seems feasible and enjoys growing support: encouraging the rapid development and diffusion of the technology needed for a renewable resource-based economy. The computer and communication revolution that has brought us inexpensive cell phone calls, Skype, Facetime, search engines, GPS, Bluetooth, streaming video, computer games and the sharing economy. These technologies and practices have demonstrated that economic consumption can increase while material consumption decreases. Data indicates that in the U.S., greenhouse gas production has been decoupled from GDP growth. Young people in America have a lower rate of auto ownership than those that came before them. Support for the development of renewable energy is growing.

It is true I am advocating what my environmental policy mentor and doctoral dissertation supervisor, the late Professor Lester Milbrath, would have derisively regarded as a technological fix. He thought we needed changes in environmental values coupled with reduced consumption. What weve seen instead is changed environmental values coupled with new forms of consumption. This is a source of hope. In particular, the idea that consumption can include experiencing culture, entertainment, social interaction and learning, and that the goal is experiencing the world, not owning it. Both technology and values are changing. But it is far too late for us to get back to the land and live as one with nature. There are far too many people on the planet and too little nature to live that way again. Sustainability in the 21st century will need to be achieved in cities. Fortunately, many cities have begun the long, slow process of reducing their environmental impact, and increasing their use of renewable resources.

I am also hopeful because for every Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt, or Rick Perry I see fighting sustainability in Washington, there are dozens of Jerry Browns, Mike Bloombergs, Angela Merkels, and Emmanuel Macrons driving sustainability globally. Even in Washington, the Presidents proposed draconian cuts to EPA and to federally funded science have already been rejected by Congressional budget committees. Although the budgets are still being cut, the reductions are incremental, not radical.

When I first started to study environmental policy in 1975, it was a small field of little importance in the political life of that time. Today it is at the center of our political, economic, social and cultural concerns. It has evolved in ways that no one would have predicted nearly a half century ago, when a handful of us sat around a seminar table in Buffalo, New York, pondering this field. When I first joined the faculty at Columbia University in 1981, I was persuaded not to teach a course on environmental policy because, no one comes to New York City to study the environment.

Today, I direct two masters programs with about 300 students studying environment and sustainability. My course on sustainability management enrolled 150 students last year. In the last 15 years, Columbia has developed an undergraduate major and PhD in sustainable development, along with masters programs in environmental science and policy, sustainability management, climate and society, and development practice. We even have a certification in sustainability finance and another in water management. Next year we hope to launch a new masters program in sustainability science. The presence of these dedicated, mission-driven, bright and talented students and the professional accomplishments of thousands of alums already graduated are my greatest source of hope in these troubled times. My granddaughter was born on Wednesday, July 12, and I am trusting her future to the sustainability leaders and professionals that have emerged during the first part of the 21st century. I believe it is a safe bet.

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See the original post:

Staying Hopeful In A Troubling Time - HuffPost

Baker McKenzies latest quarterly Cross-border M&A Index shows that there were 17 inbound M&A deals in Africa in the second quarter (Q2) of 2017. The 17 inbound deals reflect a 48% drop from 33 deals in Q2 2016. On a quarter-by-quarter basis, inbound deal volume also dropped by 45% from 31 deals in Q1 2017.

The total deal value for inbound deals amounted to US$780 million, decreasing by 83% year-on-year and 88% on a quarter-by-quarter basis. The second quarter of 2016 saw US$4.54 billion worth of deals. In the first quarter of 2017 US$6.38 billion worth of inbound deals were concluded in Africa.

Morne van der Merwe, Managing Partner of Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg explained, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Africa has decreased and this will continue until the local investment climate stabilises. Due to the credit ratings downgrades, the cost of raising capital for acquisitions has become more expensive, making deals more difficult. In addition, the Rand has been one of the most volatile currencies in 2017 and this volatility has suppressed deal appetite.

These factors, combined with recent political instability and uncertainty, have resulted in a perception in the market of increased risks of doing business in South Africa. Global players are finding more attractive investment destinations elsewhere.

Further, almost half the continents M&A activity flows through South Africa, so recent South African developments have had a negative knock-on effect in Africa. Political uncertainty in other jurisdictions on the continent, such as the current election in Kenya, has also made investors wary of African deal making in the short term, although we expect this to change once stability returns to the region.

The top target industry by volume and value in Africa was mining, which accounted for 23% of total deal count and US$312 million or 40% of total value.

In terms of outlook for the mining sector in South Africa, van der Merwe said there is widespread agreement that the Mining Charter in its present form will severely impact the mining sector in South Africa. In addition, the recent proposal, published in the South African Government Gazette for comment, regarding a possible moratorium on mining and prospecting rights and the granting of applications in terms of section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act is cause for concern. If these measure come into effect, they will have a detrimental impact on transactions in the South African mining space.

Looking at the technology sector, the M&A Index showed no inbound technology deals in Africa in second quarter of 2017. This is in comparison to the global results, which noted a high volume of technology deals in the first half of 2017. Globally, besides H1 2016, the number of cross-border technology deals was higher in H1 2017 than in any post-crisis half-year period.

Van der Merwe explained, Africa has several technology hubs, including one in Cape Town, South Africa and the development of technology in the banking and finance sector, for mass usage on the continent, is well advanced. A positive explanation for there being no inbound deals in this sector in Q2 2017, is that this is not due to lack of IT development in Africa, to the contrary, but because IT companies are structuring their operations in a way that allows them to enter into partnerships offshore and bring their operations into Africa through licencing arrangements.

The Index shows that South Africa was the top target country for inbound deals by volume and value, accounting for 29% of total deal count and US$ 422 million or 54% of total value in Africa. The top investing country by volume was Australia with three deals or 18% of total count. China deals had the highest overall value at US$324 million or 42% of total.

It is surprising that Australia was the highest inbound investor country by deal volume as one would expect it to be China or India. Australia is a resource-based economy, with the knowledge, know-how and asset base to attach to opportunities in Africa, so it does make sense that they would be investing heavily in African businesses, noted van der Merwe.

Asia Pacific and the European Union were tied as top investing regions by volume, each accounting for 35% of total deal count. By value, Asia Pacific outpaced the rest with US$487 million or 62% of total.

Cross border outbound deals painted a more positive picture. There were 15 cross border outbound deals in Africa for the second quarter of 2017, a decrease of 12% on a year-on-year basis, but an increase of 67% from the previous quarter. The second quarter of 2016 saw 17 outbound deals, while the first quarter of 2017 saw nine outbound deals. The total deal value, US$1.52 billion, fell by 28% from US$2.1 billion in Q2 2016, but more than doubled on a quarter by quarter basis from US$665 million in Q1 2017.

Technology tied with Business Services was a top target industry for Africas outbound deals by volume with a total of three deals for the quarter (20% of total). In terms of deal value, the Financial Services sector led slightly with US$535 million or 35% of total deals. Technology deals came in close second, accounting for USD 510 million or 33% of total outbound deals from Africa.

An increase in development in African telecoms industries, as well as the opportunities presented by a rapidly developing financial services sector, remain key drivers of outbound investment activity in Africa. The growing financial services sector has also seen domestic banks make significant investments in technology, including in offshore companies. As discussed, the increase in outbound deals in the technology sector also points to African technology companies looking to base their local operations offshore, he noted.

The Index also shows that South Africa outperformed other African bidders by volume and value for outbound deals, with eight deals (53% of total) amounting to US$821 million (54% of total). Top target regions for outbound deals were EU and Asia Pacific by volume, each with 40% share of total. The top target country from Africa by volume was India, with three deals accounting for 20% of total deal count.

Continued here:

Political uncertainty leads to drop in M&A deals in Africa this quarter - Namibia Economist

Sunday, 23 July 2017 | Rinku Ghosh | St Petersburg

The Runwals are not like the dysfunctional Mehras on a fancy cruise in the Mediterranean as embodied in Dil Dhadakne Do. If anything, they are conventional. But they are quite a merry bunch, choosing to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary in the family along the Gulf of Finland, blazing through the white nights of the North Pole, cruising along the rivers and canals of St Petersburg. They booked a premier floor of the Four Seasons, had the ballroom for the celebrations done up with classic floral arrangements and harps and had flown in their chefs for the event. Not only that. As part of a weekend of extended family revelry and bonding, they even watched The Swan Lake at the Ballet Palace Theatre, teary-eyed and fulfilled.

We caught up with Indian students, who had invited their peers for a group summer outing, techies and 30-plus professionals with associative memories of the Soviet times from Bengal, some of whom were doing a recce for a luxurious trans-Siberian Railway tour spanning the Orient and the Occident. That is precisely where St Petersburgs appeal lies as a city of 342 bridges. Besides the mechanical ones, the city bridges eras, the imperial grandeur of Tsarist Russia with its modernist reinvention, the Oriental sweep with Occidental interpretations, refined European heritage with contemporary sub-cultures, opulence with functionality.

Russia, particularly St Petersburg, is increasingly figuring as a must-do hotspot in the Indian travellers itinerary as that country has been aggressively courting the top travel markets of the world since last year. That has largely been prompted by Russias re-prioritisation post the Western worlds sanctions over Ukraine, falling oil prices and over-dependence on a resource-based economy. Asian countries, like China, are moving in with new investment in infrastructure thats having an inevitable spinoff in emergent sectors like tourism. No country can beat China when it comes to boosting Russias tourism industry, and the country has topped the list since 2014. Yes, the airports have Chinese signages and announcements, there are brochures in Chinese at tourist kiosks and dedicated hotels for Chinese tourists.

Indians still have to notch up the numbers to get specialised attention at this point but tourist officials are now targetting them, what with Indian companies investing in businesses and tourism officials keen to tap into Indian visitors with their highest spending traits.

We are increasing accommodation options, expanding schedules at heritage sites, easing visa and transit norms, allowing pitstop experiences by extending visas up to 72 hours and setting up friendly trouble-shooting kiosks. We know Indians like their micro-staples, like tea in the morning, and are making sure our hotel rooms stock beverage packs and kettles. We are profiling their interest areas and working out tour specials. We hope that Indians can rank second among Asian arrivals, says Evgeny Pankevich, Director-General, City Tourist Information Bureau.

Customisation has begun with tourism officials surveying Indian tourist behaviour, hotels allowing chefs for group tours and city officials considering destination reunions and wedding shoots though not the wedding fire rituals as yet. Indian restaurants like Oh Mumbai, whose Bengali chef is becoming a hot favourite among expats and locals, are quickly climbing up the fine-dining charts and endorsed by the city tourist board. On their part Indians have begun classifying St Petersburg with the A-category European experience, that is the London-Paris-Milan club class, according to Prashant Chaudhary of Salvia Promoters, the official partner of the Visit St Petersburg campaign and office in India. Ever since the Russian Tourism Board began aggressively wooing the Indian traveller over the last year, Indian interest and arrivals on the Moscow-St Petersburg circuit have gone up by 100 per cent, he says.

Chaudhary, who has been developing this market over the last 14 years, considers St Petersburg an experiential destination. It is clearly the worlds culture capital with its history, palaces, museums, cathedrals, gilded baroque art, its pavilions, parks and literary retreats. But theres much more. This is one city that is fiercely protective of its facades and architecture discipline as it looks out to the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea the same way it has done through centuries. Climb the Issac Cathedral and there are no jarring outcrops. Commercial or residential district, the facades have a contiguity of design depending on the imperial or Soviet blocks. The city has a vibrant night life, day and night river cruises, jazz bars, sailing and yachting prospects for the adventurous and fascinating activities for children. It is called Venice of the North and is much cleaner than the original. And the polar white nights are spectacular, the summer twilight extending into dawn and the waters of the Neva river a bright cerulean even at midnight.

As a river civilisation and with a maritime history of our own, St Petersburg is an example of how water tourism can be developed. With its founder Peter The Great developing grid-like embankments along the citys rivers and canals leading up to the gulf of Finland, portside pleasures abound. There are day/night cruises that let you float past the panoramic skyline of the city, while sipping wine or having dinner, halt-and-go boats at key banks besides conversations and music gigs at riverside cafes. Of course, there are the commercial cruiseliners on the Baltic, which can dock well into the bay and the deep Neva delta and offer such on-board entertainment like water surfing and bars tended by robots and Disney characters. Eighteen new ships are to be built and commissioned over the next few years.

The waterworld museum at the port is an interactive 4D experience of the creative and destructive forces of the earths primal element on giant LED screens and simulated chambers. Touch a pre-historic fish swimming by and watch it become the first amphibian! Or perform an experiment to understand the properties of water.

The city administration has even turned the rather mundane function of raising drawbridges across the city for letting cargo ships through into a midnight tourism event, taking advantage of the extended diurnal phase of the sun. Around seven drawbridges are lit up in national colours and raised up to the notes of Tchaikovsky in a rhythmic manner as cruise boats and jet skis pass under history and the earliest engineering feats of the modern world. With all heritage buildings lit up, the bay is garlanded by a string of jewels as it were and makes for a profoundly cinematic experience. Then there are sea festivals and fireworks. But given the activist citizens, there is strict compliance of environmental and sanitary norms and restricted licences for yachting clubs.

St Petersburg is the home ground of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is actively encouraging soft and cultural diplomacy to make it the most coveted postcard brand. So there is peaceful co-existence of the Lenin-Stalin legacy, be it in terms of Soviet tours of architectural blocks or outposts, a sign that the city has matured into taking the middle path. Youngsters at speakeasies even talk of the good and bad of both open and socialist economies.

Interestingly, the tourism offices are manned and headed by young, dynamic, English-speaking Russians, who are recasting the image of St Petes as a happening destination. Midnight walking tours, fusion food (Russian fine-diners are a treasure trove of soups and salads), vodka tasting tours, Russian alternative rock and adventure sports are all on offer.

The city administration is offering cost-effective packages for the value-conscious Indian traveller. St Petersburg will provide bang for the buck to the Indian traveller. The rouble and rupee are almost equivalent i.e. 1 rouble = 1.09 rupee. Compared to the other tourist destinations, the Russian experience is going to be light on the pockets, says Chaudhary. Which is why Russian tourism officials are looking to penetrate not just metro cities but Tier II and Tier III cities as well.

Then theres the FIFA world cup next year that is expected to change the scenario for Indians visiting Russia. Many have booked their tickets already to the host country.

There are nationalist T-shirts and souvenirs of a bare-chested or covered Putin astride a bear in the wilds. As the tenth most visited nation worldwide, Russia is heaving out of its bearish days and charging ahead like a bull.

Read the original:

Russian cities court Indian tourists - The Pioneer - Daily Pioneer

Sunday, 23 July 2017 | Rinku Ghosh | St Petersburg

The Runwals are not like the dysfunctional Mehras on a fancy cruise in the Mediterranean as embodied in Dil Dhadakne Do. If anything, they are conventional. But they are quite a merry bunch, choosing to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary in the family along the Gulf of Finland, blazing through the white nights of the North Pole, cruising along the rivers and canals of St Petersburg. They booked a premier floor of the Four Seasons, had the ballroom for the celebrations done up with classic floral arrangements and harps and had flown in their chefs for the event. Not only that. As part of a weekend of extended family revelry and bonding, they even watched The Swan Lake at the Ballet Palace Theatre, teary-eyed and fulfilled.

We caught up with Indian students, who had invited their peers for a group summer outing, techies and 30-plus professionals with associative memories of the Soviet times from Bengal, some of whom were doing a recce for a luxurious trans-Siberian Railway tour spanning the Orient and the Occident. That is precisely where St Petersburgs appeal lies as a city of 342 bridges. Besides the mechanical ones, the city bridges eras, the imperial grandeur of Tsarist Russia with its modernist reinvention, the Oriental sweep with Occidental interpretations, refined European heritage with contemporary sub-cultures, opulence with functionality.

Russia, particularly St Petersburg, is increasingly figuring as a must-do hotspot in the Indian travellers itinerary as that country has been aggressively courting the top travel markets of the world since last year. That has largely been prompted by Russias re-prioritisation post the Western worlds sanctions over Ukraine, falling oil prices and over-dependence on a resource-based economy. Asian countries, like China, are moving in with new investment in infrastructure thats having an inevitable spinoff in emergent sectors like tourism. No country can beat China when it comes to boosting Russias tourism industry, and the country has topped the list since 2014. Yes, the airports have Chinese signages and announcements, there are brochures in Chinese at tourist kiosks and dedicated hotels for Chinese tourists.

Indians still have to notch up the numbers to get specialised attention at this point but tourist officials are now targetting them, what with Indian companies investing in businesses and tourism officials keen to tap into Indian visitors with their highest spending traits.

We are increasing accommodation options, expanding schedules at heritage sites, easing visa and transit norms, allowing pitstop experiences by extending visas up to 72 hours and setting up friendly trouble-shooting kiosks. We know Indians like their micro-staples, like tea in the morning, and are making sure our hotel rooms stock beverage packs and kettles. We are profiling their interest areas and working out tour specials. We hope that Indians can rank second among Asian arrivals, says Evgeny Pankevich, Director-General, City Tourist Information Bureau.

Customisation has begun with tourism officials surveying Indian tourist behaviour, hotels allowing chefs for group tours and city officials considering destination reunions and wedding shoots though not the wedding fire rituals as yet. Indian restaurants like Oh Mumbai, whose Bengali chef is becoming a hot favourite among expats and locals, are quickly climbing up the fine-dining charts and endorsed by the city tourist board. On their part Indians have begun classifying St Petersburg with the A-category European experience, that is the London-Paris-Milan club class, according to Prashant Chaudhary of Salvia Promoters, the official partner of the Visit St Petersburg campaign and office in India. Ever since the Russian Tourism Board began aggressively wooing the Indian traveller over the last year, Indian interest and arrivals on the Moscow-St Petersburg circuit have gone up by 100 per cent, he says.

Chaudhary, who has been developing this market over the last 14 years, considers St Petersburg an experiential destination. It is clearly the worlds culture capital with its history, palaces, museums, cathedrals, gilded baroque art, its pavilions, parks and literary retreats. But theres much more more. This is one city that is fiercely protective of its facades and architecture discipline as it looks out to the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea the same way it has done through centuries. Climb the Issac Cathedral and there are no jarring outcrops. Commercial or residential district, the facades have a contiguity of design depending on the imperial or Soviet blocks. The city has a vibrant night life, day and night river cruises, jazz bars, sailing and yachting prospects for the adventurous and fascinating activities for children. It is called Venice of the North and is much cleaner than the original. And the polar white nights are spectacular, the summer twilight extending into dawn and the waters of the Neva river a bright cerulean even at midnight.

As a river civilisation and with a maritime history of our own, St Petersburg is an example of how water tourism can be developed. With its founder Peter The Great developing grid-like embankments along the citys rivers and canals leading up to the gulf of Finland, portside pleasures abound. There are day/night cruises that let you float past the panoramic skyline of the city, while sipping wine or having dinner, halt-and-go boats at key banks besides conversations and music gigs at riverside cafes. Of course, there are the commercial cruiseliners on the Baltic, which can dock well into the bay and the deep Neva delta and offer such on-board entertainment like water surfing and bars tended by robots and Disney characters. Eighteen new ships are to be built and commissioned over the next few years.

The waterworld museum at the port is an interactive 4D experience of the creative and destructive forces of the earths primal element on giant LED screens and simulated chambers. Touch a pre-historic fish swimming by and watch it become the first amphibian! Or perform an experiment to understand the properties of water.

The city administration has even turned the rather mundane function of raising drawbridges across the city for letting cargo ships through into a midnight tourism event, taking advantage of the extended diurnal phase of the sun. Around seven drawbridges are lit up in national colours and raised up to the notes of Tchaikovsky in a rhythmic manner as cruise boats and jet skis pass under history and the earliest engineering feats of the modern world. With all heritage buildings lit up, the bay is garlanded by a string of jewels as it were and makes for a profoundly cinematic experience. Then there are sea festivals and fireworks. But given the activist citizens, there is strict compliance of environmental and sanitary norms and restricted licences for yachting clubs.

St Petersburg is the home ground of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is actively encouraging soft and cultural diplomacy to make it the most coveted postcard brand. So there is peaceful co-existence of the Lenin-Stalin legacy, be it in terms of Soviet tours of architectural blocks or outposts, a sign that the city has matured into taking the middle path. Youngsters at speakeasies even talk of the good and bad of both open and socialist economies.

Interestingly, the tourism offices are manned and headed by young, dynamic, English-speaking Russians, who are recasting the image of St Petes as a happening destination. Midnight walking tours, fusion food (Russian fine-diners are a treasure trove of soups and salads), vodka tasting tours, Russian alternative rock and adventure sports are all on offer.

The city administration is offering cost-effective packages for the value-conscious Indian traveller. St Petersburg will provide bang for the buck to the Indian traveller. The rouble and rupee are almost equivalent i.e. 1 rouble = 1.09 rupee. Compared to the other tourist destinations, the Russian experience is going to be light on the pockets, says Chaudhary. Which is why Russian tourism officials are looking to penetrate not just metro cities but Tier II and Tier III cities as well.

Then theres the FIFA world cup next year that is expected to change the scenario for Indians visiting Russia. Many have booked their tickets already to the host country.

There are nationalist T-shirts and souvenirs of a bare-chested or covered Putin astride a bear in the wilds. As the tenth most visited nation worldwide, Russia is heaving out of its bearish days and charging ahead like a bull.

See the rest here:

Russian cities court Indian tourists - Daily Pioneer

More initiatives to build upon the tourist draw fostered by the Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trails in the southern part of West Virginia are taking shape.

One involves the West Virginia Community Development Hub, a nonprofit group based in Clarksburg, working with several communities in the southern coalfields to develop strategies for gaining economically from the trail system. Also stepping up is Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College, which has launched two new programs aimed at boosting the economy in that region and providing training that could yield related job opportunities.

The Hatfield-McCoy Trails system is made up of over 700 miles of trails in southern West Virginia. As one of the largest off-highway vehicle trail systems in the world, Hatfield-McCoy Trails is open 365 days a year and offers something for every skill level. It already has a sizable economic impact on that region and the state as a whole, and the recent and new efforts are aimed at expanding that.

Over the past year, the West Virginia Community Development Hub has been working to foster entrepreneurship in communities throughout West Virginia, and one place where it's throwing its efforts is the southern part of the state.

Among the targeted areas are the communities of Alderson and Madison and the counties of McDowell, Lincoln and Wyoming.

"Here at The Hub, we've seen energy around new business in the recreation and tourism sectors skyrocket," said Dan Taylor, entrepreneurial communities program coordinator for the group, which has been around more than 10 years.

"We have been working all over the state to help communities that may not have the capacity or resources to do community type projects," he said.

Taylor works in the coalfield communities in southern West Virginia to help diversify their economies by working with community folks.

One of The Hub's projects involves the Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trails.

"As people come to ride the trail, they are also looking for other recreational activities," Taylor said. "So we are working with communities in southern West Virginia with natural assets like trails and waterways to create these recreational opportunities for visitors."

Taylor says The Hub's Innovation Acceleration Strategy (IAS) program is a year-long, community-based economic diversification planning process.

"The West Virginia Community Development Hub will be working with five communities in Southern West Virginia who are ready, willing and able to start identifying what they want to see in their community and planning on how to grow and build these sectors," he explained.

The Hatfield-McCoy Trails range from the scenic mountain views of Pinnacle Creek, to the tight and twisting trails of Bearwallow. Many trails connect to West Virginia's "ATV friendly towns" where visitors can grab a bite to eat and add to the local economy, Taylor said.

Taylor says his group also has seen land-based trail projects around hiking and biking from The Hub's previous innovation acceleration program in communities from Boone County to Wyoming County.

"With an uptick in resources available to communities as well as through things like the Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER program, which has put $92 million within the past year into the region for economic development, it is important for residents here to know about what is available and be able to connect with these opportunities to grow not only their local economy but their own prosperity," Taylor added.

Just last month at a convening of POWER grantees in Huntington, Jeff Lusk, director of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority, which operates the Hatfield-McCoy Trails system, said the ARC's $1.3 million POWER grant to that organization will be used to help expand tourism-related business opportunities along the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.

"We look forward to seeing what additional helpful resources are on the horizon for our region when it comes to growing our recreation and tourism economy," Taylor said.

In the summer of 2014, Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research completed an updated economic impact study for the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority.

Hatfield-McCoy Trails for day-to-day operations generated an additional $1.6 million in economic activity within the state, for a total operational impact of $3.3 million, according to the report.

Even more notably, the Hatfield-McCoy Trails bring non-local visitors to the area whose spending is estimated to generate an additional $19 million in economic activity in West Virginia.

Together, the total estimated economic impact of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails is more than $22 million.

The economic activity generated by the Hatfield-McCoy Trails' operations and visitors also yields tax revenues. The trails impact the state and local tax base by nearly $120,000 annually, the report stated.

When considering the estimated total employment sustained by the presence of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, an annual state and local tax benefit of more than $455,500 is estimated.

An additional fiscal benefit to the state of more than $1.5 million is estimated as a result of non-local visitor spending while visiting the Hatfield-McCoy Trails.

In addition to providing data for estimating the visitor spending impact of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, the rider survey included in the report indicated largely positive experiences among riders.

"The vast majority of respondents reported a good or excellent experience with the Hatfield-McCoy Trails overall, and more than 97 percent of riders surveyed would recommend the trails to others," the report stated.

Also with an eye toward partnering with the Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trails system is Kristina Oliver, who this month accepted the position of program administrator for Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College's new Entrepreneurship and Business Coaching Center.

"I am reaching out to businesses, West Virginia small-business champions, economic developers, resource partners and service providers regarding a new initiative that I am excited to lead," she said.

Oliver said the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority in partnership with Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College, the Natural Capital Investment Fund and West Virginia State University have created an entrepreneurial training and business coaching program in the coalfields of southern West Virginia.

"The project, which was funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Power Plus initiative, will increase tourism and entrepreneurship in southern West Virginia to create a sustainable tourism-based economy," Oliver explained.

She said this initiative focuses on a nine-county region of the state, including Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wyoming, Lincoln, Wayne, Kanawha, McDowell and Mercer counties.

"I have much respect and admiration for the great work being done by many organizations and entities throughout West Virginia to help increase small-business success," she said. "With this new center, we will offer business coaching, targeted consulting and impactful training to help existing businesses and to help encourage new business growth."

Last year, the college launched a Powersports Technology Program to teach students to service, repair and maintain a variety of power sports equipment such as motorcycles, ATVs UTVs and personal watercraft.

"The program graduates are prepared to be entry-level technicians and most often work as service technicians, but may also find employment as service writers, parts department personnel and sales staff," Oliver said.

The full Powersports Technology Program is available on the Boone/Lincoln Campus. The Logan, Williamson and Wyoming/McDowell campuses offer the general education/program support courses only.

Read the original:

Groups see ATV trails as anchor to economy - Huntington Herald Dispatch