BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Rancher Terry Ulrich will reap about $6,000 this week for helping protect the planet from global warming.
Ulrich is one of about 630 farmers and ranchers who are getting checks from the North Dakota Farmers Union for using no-till farming practices or growing grasses to limit the release of carbon dioxide from the ground.
‘It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to pay off a big chunk of my property taxes — and it benefits the land,’ he said.
The state Farmers Union on Monday announced $2 million in payments to North Dakota farmers and ranchers who enrolled acreage in the program, which began last year. They are the first in the nation to receive such payments.
The program pools carbon credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange, a private agency that trades greenhouse gases and other pollutants just as other exchanges trade such commodities as crops and livestock.
Dale Enerson, the director of the carbon credit program for the North Dakota group as well as the National Farmers Union, said it has been expanded to 330,000 acres in 14 other states in the past year, with more than 600 farmers from those states signing up.
About $500,000 in carbon credits is traded daily on the Chicago Climate Exchange, representing some 125,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, said Michael Walsh, the trading system’s senior vice president.
‘A half-million bucks a day is not the Board of Trade, but it’s a start,’ Walsh said. ‘We are doing 100 times that a day in Europe.’
North Dakota Farmers Union President Robert Carlson said about 650,000 tons of carbon dioxide was sequestered under the state program last year — about the equivalent of the carbon emissions from more than 130,000 cars.
Those carbon dioxide credits were sold in blocks earlier this year and fetched an average of about $3.70 cents a metric ton, Carlson said.
When soil is tilled with farm machinery, carbon is released from the soil into the atmosphere. No-till cultivation greatly reduces the amount of carbon released because it disturbs the soil only along a slit or hole into which seeds are planted.
No-till farming is being used on about 8 million of the 30 million acres of cropland in North Dakota, Enerson said. About 830,000 acres are enrolled under the state carbon credit program, Carlson said.
‘That’s only 10 percent of what’s potentially available in North Dakota, so we are only scratching the surface,’ Carlson said.
Gov. John Hoeven called the carbon credit program ‘timely and innovative.’
‘This is the kind of innovation that helps our farmers and ranchers,’ Hoeven said.
Walsh said the Chicago Climate Exchange has about 300 member organizations that have voluntarily agreed to reduce their carbon emissions. The members include corporations, cities and a few universities, which can buy carbon credits to help offset their emissions, he said.
Carbon dioxide credits are fetching about $30 a metric ton in Europe, where countries have agreed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The United States refused to ratify the treaty and does not have a mandatory carbon dioxide emission cap.
Walsh, state officials and farmers believe the value of carbon credits in the United States will increase in time.
‘The value of carbon is going to go up,’ said Johnson, the state’s agriculture commissioner. ‘This is exactly the kind of future we should be envisioning and going after.’
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ND farmers share $2M from carbon credits
ROUNDUP Ryanair’s FY profits up as growth slowdown looms
LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Low cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC today warned it expects profit growth to slow over the next year as a result of softening market conditions, despite having earlier posted full-year net profit of 401.4 mln eur — 33 pct up on the same period last year.
The airline beat consensus forecasts for 395 mln eur, but warned of the potential slowdown in growth in spite of ongoing plans to expand its route network.
Ryanair said it expects yields to fall by up to 5 pct, with unit costs seen rising by 6-7 pct due in part to longer journey lengths and higher airport charges at Stansted and Dublin.
‘We think market demand will continue to soften and as a result load factors might be slightly lower,’ Ryanair’s finance director, Howard Miller told Thomson Financial News in a telephone interview this morning.
‘We are guiding that the average fare will be down slightly and as a result of those two factors we think that profit growth won’t be as fast next year as it has been this year.’
The airline expects the seasonality established over recent years to continue with the majority of the group’s annual profits set to be generated in the first half of the year, with the possibility of a small loss being recorded during quarters 3 and 4.
‘Our normal profile is that we make the vast majority of our profits in Q1 and Q2 and I think that trend will continue this year,’ said Miller. ‘We don’t have a great deal of visibility into the winter period at the moment but we feel that there’s a possibility that we might make a loss in Q3 and Q4.’
Over the past 12 months, Ryanair saw fuel costs increase by 50 pct to 693 mln eur. However, looking ahead, the carrier said it has extended fuel hedges for the remainder of fiscal 2008 with the average cost per barrel significantly lower than last year.
‘Fuel costs will rise at a slower pace than they did last year so we expect slower growth in fuel prices,’ said Miller. ‘Our average fuel price this year is about 63 usd a barrel and that equates to about 70 usd a barrel last year. In terms of hedging, we went from 50 pct to 90 pct in Q2 and we expect about a 10 pct reduction in the cost per barrel over the year.’
Revenues were 32 pct higher at 2.237 bln eur, while passenger traffic figures increased by 22 pct to 42.5 mln.
Average fares rose 7 pct but after raising its ticket prices for the past eight quarters, the airline estimates that fares will have to come down by around 5 pct over the next 12 months. Miller said he hopes such enforced price reductions will benefit the British traveller.
‘Five interest rate rises have definitely impacted the UK consumer — they have less disposable income now,’ said Miller. ‘I think that combined with the doubling of Air Passenger Duty from 5 stg to 10 stg and the doubling of passenger charges at Stansted from 6 stg to 12 stg then people have less money available and they are more price resistant.’
Ancillary revenues grew by 40 pct due to higher passenger spend, increased penetration and the growth of excess baggage revenues.
‘Sales of drinks and snacks, car hire, hotels, travel insurance and excess baggage charges have all been strong so there’s a whole raft of things driving ancillaries forward,’ Miller said. ‘We have worked very hard on this over the last number of years and we said it would rise to about 20 pct of revenues — it’s presently at around 16 pct.’
Ryanair said it would continue to press for the break-up of the BAA airport monopoly and that it welcomed the recent OFT and Competition Commission investigation into BAA.
The airline said the current BAA Stansted plan to spend some 4 bln stg building a second runway and terminal ‘provides further proof of this monopoly’. Ryanair is also against plans to spend over 800 mln eur building a 15 MPPA passenger terminal at Dublin Airport.
Significant cost increases associated with higher airport charges at Stansted and Dublin since April, combined with a doubling of the UK airport departure taxes have also had a negative impact on traffic and yields.
Miller added that Ryanair would likely challenge the European Commission’s (EC) review of Ryanair’s proposed offer for Aer Lingus Group PLC, which is expected to fail to receive competition approval.
‘The Irish government is not in favour of it [the proposed merger] and the EC competition authorities generally do what the governments want to do,’ said Miller. ‘It has approved other similar deals but when it comes to two carriers operating with less than 5 pct of the market share they decide they are not going to approve it so you can only assume it’s a politically motivated decision.’
Despite warning of potential losses over the coming year, Ryanair ‘normally easily beats its guidance’, Citigroup’s Andrew Light wrote in a note today.
Collins Stewart analyst Andrew Fitchie, meanwhile, claims that Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary may have ‘managed market expectations downwards only to go on to surpass them and we think he has good reason to do this now’, he wrote in a research note on the airline published this morning.
Last week, Ryanair ordered 27 Boeing 737-800 planes valued at 1.9 bln usd to add new routes and lower costs. Its fleet has grown from 103 planes in 2006 to over 130 today.
Peter Caldwell, an equity analyst at Barclays Wealth, is of the view that although Ryanair is still cautious on its near-term outlook the airline is more optimistic about the long-term view.
‘The recent new aircraft order implies that the group feels growth potential in the low-cost carrier space warrants continued capacity additions,’ wrote Caldwell in a note on the airline today.
At 11.55 am, Ryanair’s shares were trading 5.87 pct or 0.32 eur down at 5.05 eur.
XX:SU:AFXSTORYML#SN:rj1sasASDA#XX:1857.0#HS:nitfwire_9250_2007-6-5_12:13:48_2_155#DU:nxafxw+timchk+lanafxtxd1+lanafxtxd2+lanafxstl1+bxfu+xfud+borg+xfchk+lanafutxd1+lanafutxd2+nxtfew+lantfttxd2+lantfetxd2#XP:tfukfipm.datastream.com
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Shell resumes total oil production in Nigeria
LAGOS (Thomson Financial) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC has resumed production of 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil in Nigeria, which had been closed due to community unrest in the country’s volatile oil-rich south, a company spokesman said.
‘Optimal production level is back. The plant is up and running,’ Precious Okolobo told AFP.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil exporter and the world’s sixth oil producer.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant suspended operations at the Bomu manifold after villagers in the restive Ogoniland region stormed the facility which feeds the Bonny export terminal on May 28.
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Reed Elsevier says to cease defence exhibition activities
AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) – Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV will exit the defence exhibitions sector, the Anglo-Dutch publishing company said in a statement.
Chief executive officer Crispin Davis said that, ‘it has become increasingly clear that growing numbers of important customers and authors have very real concerns about our involvement in the defence exhibitions business.’
Although he noted that ‘our defence shows are quality businesses which have performed well in recent years,’ the CEO said they were ‘no longer compatible with Reed Elseviers position.’
Reed Elsevier’s portfolio of five defence shows a year represents around 0.5 pct of the group’s annual turnover.
Dave van Ginhoven,
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Renault says Laguna to go on sale in October, detailed presentation end-August
PARIS (Thomson Financial) – The new version of Renault’s Laguna car will go on sale in October, a Renault spokeswoman said, to be preceded by a detailed presentation of the product at the end of August.
The spokeswoman was reacting to a report in La Tribune this morning.
The newspaper said the new car is due to go on sale in France on October 12, but the Renault spokeswoman rejected this date.
She also declined to comment on La Tribune’s claim that Renault is targeting 160,000-180,000 in annual unit sales for the model, although she said the company would give figures on production capacity on Monday, when the new Laguna is unveiled to the press for the first time.
Renault had confirmed earlier that the initial press launch will take place on Monday.
The spokeswoman added that this will be followed by a detailed technical and financial presentation of the car on August 21.
The car will then be presented to the public for the first time at the Frankfurt motor show in September, she said, before going on sale in October.
tfn.paris@thomson.com
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China’s Konka wins contract from European digital TV operator – report
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – Konka Group Co Ltd (SZA 000016), one of China’s top home appliance manufacturers, has signed a set-top box supply contract with a European digital TV operator, the official Shanghai Securities News reported.Guo Bin, a manager with Konka’s digital business department, declined give financial details of the deal, but added Konka expects to become one of the biggest global set-top box providers in the next two years.
NASA chief not worried about climate
WASHINGTON (AP) – The head of NASA said he was not sure global warming was a problem and added that it would be ‘arrogant’ to assume the world’s climate should not change in the future. Scientists called the remarks ignorant.
‘I have no doubt that global — that a trend of global warming exists,’ NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a taped interview that aired Thursday on National Public Radio. ‘I am not sure that it is fair to say that is a problem we must wrestle with.’
‘I guess I would ask which human beings, where and when, are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now, is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that’s a rather arrogant position for people to take,’ Griffin said.
On Wednesday, Griffin’s own agency put out a news release about a research paper written by nearly 50 NASA and
Columbia University scientists and published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The paper shows how ‘human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earth’s climate close to critical tipping points, with potentially dangerous consequences for the planet.’
Jerry Mahlman, a former top scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who is now at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said Griffin’s remarks showed he was either ‘totally clueless’ or ‘a deep anti-global warming ideologue.’
James Hansen, a top NASA climate scientist and lead author of the research paper, said Griffin’s comments showed ‘arrogance and ignorance’ because millions of people will likely be harmed by global warming in the future.
White House science adviser Jack Marburger said he was not disturbed by Griffin’s remarks, but distanced them from President Bush, who on Thursday announced an international global warming proposal.
‘It’s pretty obvious that the NASA administrator was speaking about his own personal views and by no means representing or attempting to represent the administration’s views or broader policy,’ Marburger told The Associated Press. ‘He’s got a very wry sense of humor and is very outspoken.’
In a news briefing Thursday, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton also downplayed Griffin’s remarks: ‘We are dedicated to action. And, in fact, I think the conversation’s really moved beyond a statement of the problem.’
NASA spokesman David Mould said the radio interviewer was trying to push Griffin into saying something about global warming. NASA’s position is that it provides scientific data on the issue, but policy makers are the ones who decide, he said.
Hansen, director of the agency’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, said the consequences of global warming are dire and Griffin should know better.
‘The devastation with sea level rise of several meters, with hundreds of millions of refugees, would dwarf that of New Orleans,’ Hansen wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press, referring to Hurricane Katrina. ‘Is it arrogant to say that such would be a problem?’
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Mitsubishi Heavy receives orders for wind turbines in US
TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said it received in the US orders for wind turbine power generation systems which will have combined capacity of 1,363.4 megawatts, nearly equal the size of Japan’s existing total wind power generation capacity.
A spokesman for the engineering firm declined to reveal the value of the orders but said the market price for wind turbine power generators of that size is estimated at between 1.36 bln and 1.64 bln usd.
Mitsubishi Heavy said it secured orders for 411 units of 2.4-megawatt wind turbines and for 377 units of one-megawatt wind turbines from a total of five major US wind power generation developers.
The wind turbines will be delivered starting later this year until 2009, the company said.
Amid strong demand for wind turbines in the US and other parts of the world, Mitsubishi Heavy said it
is currently in the process of expanding its wind turbine production capacity to 1,200 megawatts a year by March 2009 and plans to boost capacity further in the future.
(1 usd = 121.50 yen)
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Stockholm shares close flat as Husqvarna, AstraZeneca offset weakness UPDATE
STOCKHOLM (Thomson Financial) – The Stockholm index closed flat as gains for Husqvarna and AstraZeneca helped offset weakness elsewhere, amid caution ahead of Friday’s key US jobs data, brokers said.
The OMX Stockholm index closed down 0.18 pct at 416.57, while the OMX Stockholm 30 closed down 0.32 pct at 1,271.01.
Husqvarna sharply outperformed the market closing up 2.17 pct at 106.00 skr on continued positive sentiment following yesterday’s news that Investor AB has bought 3.7 mln A-shares in the company, hiking its share of the voting rights to 20.03 pct from 17.27 pct.
AstraZeneca also had a good session, closing up 0.96 pct to 368 after shares in the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company were upgraded to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ at HSBC, with the broker forecasting the shares will rise up to 10 pct ahead of its earnings report due in July.
Ericsson B closed unchanged at 26.35 skr, and Nokia up 0.27 pct at 182.75.
Ericsson is reviewing its tie-up with China’s ZTE Corp prior to the launch of TD-SCDMA wireless services, the South China Morning Post reported.
Ericsson is ZTE’s partner in developing technology compliant with the Chinese standard for 3G mobile phones. TD-SCDMA is expected to compete with Europe’s WCDMA and US-developed CDMA 2000 with the launch of third-generation mobile services.
The rest of the market lacked direction as concerns over record highs ahead of the summer were countered by continued positive news flow and increased international merger and acquisition activity.
OMX closed down 0.93 pct at 213 on profit taking following yesterday’s 8 pct gains, and after Carnegie said it doubts a bidding war will break out over the company.
SAS closed up 1.29 pct at 156.50. SAS Sweden said the strike by its cabin crew which started last Friday, is now over and its planes will fly as normal from Wednesday.
The Swedish cabin crews will get a 10.3 pct pay raise over 38 months, SAS said.
Among other shares heavily traded, Nordea closed down 0.44 pct at 114.10, Alfa Laval up 1.88 pct at 434.50, Scania B down 0.59 pct at 168.50, Hennes & Mauritz B down 1.37 pct at 433, and SKF B down 1.20 pct at 144.50.
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Shanghai backtracks on reports of maglev train project suspension
SHANGHAI (XFN-ASIA) – Shanghai officials have backtracked on state-media reports that plans to build a high-speed magnetic levitation train linking Shanghai and the eastern city of Hangzhou have been suspended due to health concerns.
Zhang Qing, a spokeswoman of the Shanghai government, said there has been no notice of any suspension of the project.
Separately, an official of the Shanghai Maglev Company, which operates the current maglev line in city, said he was also unaware of any project suspension.
On Sunday, the state-owned Xinhua news agency, citing unnamed Shanghai officials, reported that the 170 km project has been suspended following petitions from residents living along the proposed route worried about possible health problems from the maglev’s high powered magnets.
The maglev uses powerful magnets to drive trains at speeds of up to 430 km per hour.
Xinhua said feasibility is also in question as more than 40 bln yuan invested in the technology may not be recovered.
The project was expected to be completed in time for Shanghai’s hosting of the World Expo in 2010, according to Xinhua.
A spokeswoman for Transrapid International, a consortium between Germany’s Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG that builds the maglev trains, could also not confirm the news report.
In February, news reports said the consortium would likely be awarded a 1.2 bln usd contract to expand by 30 km the maglev line that now runs to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport from the outskirts of the city.
ThyssenKrupp said in a written statement last month that the planning process for a Shanghai extension was have ry advanced.’
The news of a possible suspension came during German President Horst Koehler’s visit to Shanghai.
The plan may also not have central government support.
‘Maglev is inappropriate anywhere in China due to inflexibility,’ said Li Hong, a high-ranking official with Institute of Transport and Communication under the National Development and Reform Commission, the state planning agency.
Li said that the super-high-speed maglev train will consume much more energy than conventional railways, and will result in ‘magnetic pollution.’
China is also developing its own maglev trains, state media have previously reported.
Citing a work blueprint by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, Xinhua said a 30-km test railway for the maglev train will be built before 2010.