any Britons facing "fuel poverty" this winter, warns MPs report

[Climate change is widening the range of the weather’s chaotic behavior all over the world. But each location has its special troubles and combinations of troubles. The British are in an especially tight spot, because they depend on the warm air from the Gulf Stream. Because global warming is flooding the Arctic with freshwater from the polar icecap, the thermohaline (Ancient Greek for “heat / salt”) currents are slowing dramatically and may one day fail altogether. That means Britain will be colder than it’s been for at least three hundred years. And the North Sea oil and gas fields, which breathed new life into the British economy (and accelerated climate change) in the 1980’s, have peaked and are in steep decline. The North Sea did for Britain what Prudhoe Bay did for the U.S.; it postponed Peak and offered a last chance to prepare. But some kinds of prudence come much easier to individuals than to populations. It’s everybody’s fault, and it’s nobody’s fault. We will not all pay the same price, but we will all pay. --JAH]

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

LONDON - The House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee has warned that gas shortages in this winter will interrupt supply for businesses and could push the elderly as well as disabled people into "fuel poverty."

The report also said that this problem would extend to the next winter as well since the prevailing conditions are unusually cold. "It is very likely that the largest industrial and commercial customers will, if they have the relevant contracts, suffer interruptions, or, if they purchase gas on the spot market, have to pay very high prices for that gas, or both," the report said.

Prices in the country have touched record highs amid worries about a shortage as the winter sets in. Weather forecasters have predicted that this will be the coldest winter in over a decade.

There is a distinct lack of supply from mainland Europe and the domestic production has been hit by the diminishing reserves in the North Sea. Chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to raise the supplementary tax rate, much to the fury of oil traders, will also not help matters.

The report titled "Inquiry into Security of Gas Supply" says that even though major energy suppliers in the country have hiked their bills by 15 percent, the main worry is the lack of supply rather than rising bills.

"If fuel prices continue to rise it will be essential to provide further assistance to the elderly," the report warns. Fuel poverty is a state where a consumer spends more than 10 percent of his/her income to avail warmth in the winter.

The committee urged the government to take steps to open up the European market to ensure steady supplies, "The problem is caused not only by matters outside the control of government, but also by a legacy of slow development of infrastructure, and the lack of a true European market for gas." The committee concluded by calling for the relaxation of emission norms as well as granting licenses so that companies could use alternative fuels for their needs.

[According to CNN video, “32,000 litres of foam concentrate are being used every minute” in the fighting of this fire. It’s a petrochemical blaze being fought by other petrochemicals. And on the bottom of the video screen is a banner ad for “the all new 2006 Dodge Ram Mega-Cab,” whose slogan is “It’s that big.” It boasts the largest car interior on the market. This is phallic consciousness with no balance, appetite with no respect; all yang and no yin. Trouble ahead. – JAH]

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Airlines at Heathrow have been put on fuel rationing in the wake of the oil depot explosions and fires north of London this week, the airport's operator said Friday.

The rationing, imposed by BAA, means some long-haul flights are having to make "pit stops" at another UK airport for more fuel.

Heathrow takes about one-third of its aviation fuel from the Buncefield oil depot at Hemel Hempstead, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London and the inferno there has forced BAA to put contingency plans into operation.

One Qantas flight from Heathrow to Sydney, Australia, is having to touch down at Stansted airport in Essex on Friday night for extra fuel. This will add around one hour 30 minutes to the journey to Australia via Bangkok.

South African Airways, which operates from Heathrow to Johannesburg and Cape Town, said it also expected one of its evening flights to make a refueling stop.

An airline spokesperson told the Press Association: "With a loss of one-third of the total fuel supplied to Heathrow, early indications suggest that the restrictions could run into a period of weeks if not months."

British Airways said it was coping with the fuel restrictions and was operating normally.

BAA said Friday long-haul carriers using Heathrow were being rationed to about two-thirds of their normal fuel supply while short-haul carriers were receiving half their normal supply.

BAA gets about a quarter of its Heathrow fuel from a depot at Fawley near Southampton and a further quarter from a facility at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. Another 15 percent of fuel comes by rail.

The airport company has increased the amount of fuel from these other suppliers under contingency plans developed some time ago by local airline representatives through the Airline Operators Committee.

A BAA spokesman said: "The contingency plans have enabled us to stabilize supply and demand for fuel and continue near normal airport operations for the 186,000 passengers that fly to and from Heathrow every day with minor disruption to some passengers and no cancellation of flights."

On Tuesday, the fire brigade said it had doused the last of the major fuel-driven fires at Buncefield, the fifth-largest fuel depot in the UK, that had been burning since massive pre-dawn explosions Sunday.

The blasts injured 43 people, but Hertfordshire Chief Constable Frank Whiteley said all but two had been released from hospitals by Monday morning, and those two did not have life-threatening injuries.

Police said on Wednesday residents had begun returning to the area nearest the depot, which was evacuated after the blasts.

Authorities said it was still much too early to speculate on the cause of the blasts and subsequent fires but they believe they were an accident.

Residents of Hemel Hempstead, near the depot, reported hearing a loud boom about 6 a.m. Sunday. Two other blasts followed, British television network ITN reported, at 6:26 and 6:27 a.m.

[This is a blow to Britain ’s energy supply far worse than what Katrina and Rita were for the US. For months British officials have quietly been preparing for major winter shortages by planning for rationing, a partial economic shutdown, and social unrest. Remember that oil is a fungible commodity. What happens in one country impacts the supply and price globally. There is little or no elasticity anywhere in global production and repeated Saudi promises to ramp up production have been just that. The US was “saved” (only in the short term) because of the opening of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPRO as it is commonly called) and massive draw downs from the reserves of twenty-two IEA countries formed by the OECD. That couldn’t continue for long anyway. As a result of this catastrophe the British Government must be near panic and the IEA will most likely have to curtail shipments of both crude and refined product to the US in order to save Britain this winter.

That means that shipments to the US will be cut back and then perhaps the real hurricane damage will make itself felt here. Britain is now in a much worse position than the US. It faces not only economic but social collapse and the official start of a winter that promises to be severe is not for more than a week. – MCR]

LONDON , England (CNN) -- British authorities say they have contained a fire raging at a fuel depot that injured 43 people, but it will take a day to burn itself out.

The blast followed a series of explosions at the facility about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London early Sunday, lighting up the predawn sky and sparking a massive blaze.

Britain has been on edge for terrorist attacks since four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters in July on London's transport system, but a police statement ruled out any attack.

"All indications are, at this stage, that this was an accident," Hertfordshire Chief Constable Frank Whiteley said.

"However, clearly we will keep an open mind ... until we can confirm that for certain."

Forty-three people were taken to hospitals for their injuries, Whitely said, but the majority were "walking casualties." All but two have been released, he said, and those two do not have life-threatening injuries.

Although firefighting units with more than 150 firefighters were on the scene, authorities said the fire may have to burn itself out.

"Given the latest info on the fire, the fire is likely to continue for the next 24 hours or so," Whitely said.

"It could go into days," Roy Wilsher, fire department spokesman, told reporters.

Wilsher said 250 million liters (more than 66 million gallons) of foam concentrate -- to be mixed with water to create flame suppressant foam -- was "on the way to us."

"We're working with the oil industry experts to see if even that's enough," he said.

About 20 petroleum tanks were thought to be involved in the blaze at the Buncefield Oil Depot near Hemel Hempstead, said Jane Vine, spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue.

"What we're really concerned about is toxic smoke from the area," Vine told CNN.

"There's a heavy cloud. We don't know if it's toxic, but we're asking people in Hemel Hempstead to keep their windows and doors closed and stay inside."

Residents closest to the depot were being evacuated, she said, and nearby roads, including the M1 and M10, were closed. "What we really want is for people to keep away from the area."

Nearby residents left quickly, some throwing possessions in the backs of their cars. Whiteley said those with doors and windows damaged by the blasts should leave.

Whitely said more explosions were possible, but they would not be as powerful as the first blasts.

Hemel Hempstead residents reported hearing a loud boom about 6 a.m. local time. Two other blasts followed, British television network ITN reported, at 6:26 and 6:27 a.m.

The network showed flames shooting an estimated 80 to 100 meters (up to 300 feet) in the air, along with an immense cloud of smoke blocking out the sun. Witnesses told ITN the blasts shattered windows and caused other damage at nearby homes.

As the smoke spread across Hemel Hempstead, witnesses said there was a strange taste in the air.

"It's a horrible feeling in the back of your throat," Andy Dicker told the network. "Very unpleasant."

At least one of the blasts was enough to wake residents of west London, some 40 miles away.

Video from the scene showed heavy damage to buildings at the depot and nearby roads covered in debris from the blasts.

Witness Simon Heyward described to ITN seeing "what looked like fireworks shooting up into the sky." Police, he said, had cordoned off the area.

Another woman said she thought the noise was an earthquake or a plane crash at the Luton Airport. "It was that kind of intense noise," she said.

Texaco owns 40 percent of Buncefield, but does not operate the facility. The other 60 percent is owned by Total, according to Texaco-Chevron UK and U.S.-based Texaco.

No American workers were at the site, a Texaco USA spokesman said. Although the terminal is the fifth-largest in Britain, Whiteley told reporters there should be no concern about a fuel shortage.

BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- China has officially moved from being an international aid recipient to become a donor nation now that it no longer requires assistance from the United Nations's World Food Program (WFP).

At a news briefing here Thursday, James Morris, WFP executive director attributed the end of the food aid program in China to the "Chinese government's tremendous success in alleviating hunger".

For 26 years the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) provided food aid to China's poorest people. The last shipment of WFP food aid arrived at Chigang Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province on April 7th this year.

The shipment contained 43,450 tons of wheat, worth nearly 7.2 million U.S. dollars. It was transported far inland to Gansu, Guangxi, Ningxia and Shanxi for local poverty reduction programs.

Morris said China's accomplishments in alleviating hunger were a tribute to the commitment of its leaders and the diligence and dynamism of its people.

Since 1986, the Chinese government has worked to reduce povertythrough developmental schemes with Chinese features. Stressing governmental leadership and social participation, the initiatives are designed to help the poor feed themselves.

In China's western region the government has replaced direct monetary grants to the poor with incentives encouraging them to make better use of local resources, enhance local infrastructure and productivity and develop a market economy.

A key objective of the current 10th five-year blueprint has been to narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas where the majority of the Chinese poor live.

The government plans to make a bigger contribution to agriculture, farmers and rural regions in the hope of building a "well-off and harmonious society".

According to official statistics, China invested a total 102.6 billion RMB (or 12.71 billion U.S. dollars) in poverty reduction programs between 1980 to 2003. Some 65 percent of the investment was used to improve production and training. The remaining 35 percent went to infrastructure projects such as irrigation, roads and drinking water supply.

China considers people with an annual income of less then 668 yuan or 82.8 U.S. dollars to be living in poverty. International income standards for those living in absolute poverty are set at 365 U.S. dollars a year.

According to the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development, China's had a total of 26.1 million living in poverty at the end of 2004.

The WFP first opened its Beijing office in 1980. It has assisted some 30 million Chinese, mostly in remote central and western China. It helped to meet their immediate food needs and facilitated the creation of community-level assets through food-for-work and food-for-training programs.

The total food aid it provided is worth almost 1 billion U.S. dollars. The infrastructure programs helped build roads, irrigation systems and drinking water facilities.

As China's need for food aid has been reduced, its donations toother countries through the WFP have increased.

China offered 1 million U.S. dollars in canned fish to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and more than 5 million U.S. dollars in total to the WFP over the past four years.

" China has increased its donations and is becoming a stronger donor in our global fight against hunger".

Morris acknowledged the world is faced with huge challenge of tackling hunger and poverty. Around the world more than 850 million people suffer from chronic hunger and the number is increasing.

He struck an optimistic note on the prospect for poverty reduction, saying "The WFP knows the problem of global hunger can be solved because it has been addressed so impressively here in China."

A systematic effort by hackers to penetrate US government and industry computer networks stems most likely from the Chinese military, the head of a leading security institute said. The attacks have been traced to the Chinese province of Guangdong, and the techniques used make it appear unlikely to come from any other source than the military, said Alan Paller, the director of the SANS Institute, an education and research organization focusing on cybersecurity.

"These attacks come from someone with intense discipline. No other organization could do this if they were not a military organization," Paller said in a conference call to announced a new cybersecurity education program.

In the attacks, Paller said, the perpetrators "were in and out with no keystroke errors and left no fingerprints, and created a backdoor in less than 30 minutes. How can this be done by anyone other than a military organization?"

Paller said that despite what appears to be a systematic effort to target government agencies and defense contractors, defenses have remained weak in many areas.

"We know about major penetrations of defense contractors," he said.

Security among private-sector Pentagon contractors may not be as robust, said Paller, because "they are less willing to make it hard for mobile people to get their work done."

Paller said the US government strategy appears to be to downplay the attacks, which has not helped the situation.

"We have a problem that our computer networks have been terribly and deeply penetrated throughout the United States ... and we've been keeping it secret," he said.

"The people who benefit from keeping it secret are the attackers."

Although Paller said the hackers probably have not obtained classified documents from the Pentagon, which uses a more secure network, it is possible they stole "extremely sensitive" information.

He said it has been documented that US military flight planning software from its Redstone Arsenal was stolen.

Pentagon officials confirmed earlier this year that US Defense Department websites are probed hundreds of times a day by hackers, but maintained that no classified site is known to have been penetrated by hackers.

The US military has code-named the recent hacker effort "Titan Rain" and has made some strides in counter-hacking to identify the attackers, Paller said. This was first reported by Time magazine.

Paller said a series of attacks on British computer networks reported earlier this year may have similar goals, but seems to use different techniques.

In the United States, he said there are some areas of improvement such as the case of the Air Force, which has been insisting on better security from its IT vendors. But he argued that "the fundamental error is that America's security strategy relies on writing reports rather than hardening systems."

[“In its first statement on the violence, the government said Saturday that hundreds of people attacked a wind power plant in Dongzhou and assaulted police…

“The police shootings Tuesday were the deadliest known clash yet amid growing anger in areas throughout China over government land seizures for construction of power plants, shopping malls and other projects…

“By the government's count, China had more than 70,000 cases of rural unrest last year. Protests are growing more violent, with injuries on both sides.”

As we and so many others have said for so long, “Infinite growth is not possible.” Perhaps the best way to view the energy endgame between China and the US is not to ask which nation will win. It is to ask which nation will collapse last. – MCR]

DONGZHOU, China (AP) -- The commander of forces that shot and killed people protesting land seizures in a southern village has been detained, the Chinese government said Sunday, as police in riot gear patrolled the community and appealed for order.

The government said three people died in Tuesday's violence in this coastal village northeast of Hong Kong, but witnesses put the death toll as high as 20.

The commander's "wrong actions" were to blame for the deaths, said a statement issued by the government of Guangdong province, where Dongzhou is located. It did not identify the commander or say what his actions were.

In its first statement on the violence, the government said Saturday that hundreds of people attacked a wind power plant in Dongzhou and assaulted police.

On Sunday, the village was under heavy guard by at least 100 riot police, some with shields and helmets. No weapons were visible. There was no violence, but villagers could be seen arguing angrily with police.

Residents said earlier that families were pleading with police to return the bodies of slain loved ones.

Government banners hung at the village entrance said, "Following the law is the responsibility and obligation of the people" and "Don't listen to rumors, don't let yourself be used." Another tried to placate local anger, promising, "The people's government will always support the people of Dongzhou."

The police shootings Tuesday were the deadliest known clash yet amid growing anger in areas throughout China over government land seizures for construction of power plants, shopping malls and other projects.

Farmers often complain they are paid too little. Some accuse local authorities of stealing compensation money.

Such incidents have alarmed communist leaders, who are promising to spend more to raise living standards in the poor countryside, home to about 800 million people.

By the government's count, China had more than 70,000 cases of rural unrest last year. Protests are growing more violent, with injuries on both sides.

President Hu Jintao's government has made a priority of spreading prosperity to areas left behind by China's 25-year economic boom. But in many areas, families still live on the equivalent of a few hundred dollars a year.

Outside Dongzhou, police on Sunday were stopping vehicles at roadblocks, checking for local men.

Hong Kong 's South China Morning Post newspaper said villagers wounded in the shooting were "under police control" in hospitals. It quoted one villager as saying relatives were detained after they went to visit an uncle, who was recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The Post quoted some residents as saying officials were trying to hide the death toll, offering families money to give up bodies.

The official Xinhua News Agency said villagers in Dongzhou were unhappy over land requisition and were demanding more compensation. It said the province has formed a group to investigate.

The villagers attacked the plant using knives, steel spears, sticks, dynamite, gasoline bombs and explosives used in fishing, Xinhua said. It said police dispersed the crowd with tear gas and arrested two people accused of inciting the violence.

However, the attackers regrouped, and after dark began throwing explosives at police, it said.

"Police were forced to open fire in alarm. In the chaos, three villagers died," Xinhua said.

A village woman told The Associated Press by telephone on Saturday that police were holding some bodies, refusing relatives' pleas to return them. The woman, who refused to give her name for fear of retribution, said 10 to 20 people were killed in Tuesday's violence.

A village man, who gave only his surname, Chong, put the number at 15 to 20. He said many families had gone to a local police station seeking compensation, but officers had turned them back.

[All is not well with the 800-pound gorilla that is the reinvigorated Chinese economy. Way down deep in the story the Times gives us the reason for the peaceful protests that evoked such wanton bloodshed. The peasants don’t want a coal-powered generating station because they can’t stand the pollution anymore. The lives lost tell us a huge story about the price of infinite growth. From one peasant to another… -- MCR]

SHANGHAI , Dec. 9 - Residents of a fishing village near Hong Kong said that as many as 20 people had been killed by paramilitary police in an unusually violent clash that marked an escalation in the widespread social protests that have roiled the Chinese countryside. Villagers said that as many as 50 other residents remain unaccounted for since the shooting. It is the largest known use of force by security forces against ordinary citizens since the killings around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That death toll remains unknown, but is estimated to be in the hundreds.

The violence began after dark in the town of Dongzhou on Tuesday evening. Terrified residents said their hamlet has remained occupied by thousands of security forces, who have blocked off all access roads and are reportedly arresting residents who attempt to leave the area in the wake of the heavily armed assault.

"From about 7 p.m. the police started firing tear gas into the crowd, but this failed to scare people," said a resident who gave his name only as Li and claimed to have been at the scene, where a relative of his was killed. "Later, we heard more than 10 explosions, and thought they were just detonators, so nobody was scared. At about 8 p.m. they started using guns, shooting bullets into the ground, but not really targeting anybody.

The use of live ammunition to put down a protest is almost unheard of in China, where the authorities have come to rely on rapid deployment of huge numbers of security forces, tear gas, water cannons and other non-lethal measures. But Chinese authorities have become increasingly nervous in recent months over the proliferation of demonstrations across the countryside, particularly in heavily industrialized eastern provinces like Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiansu. By the government's tally there were 74,000 riots or other significant public disturbances in 2004, a big jump from previous years.

The villagers in Dongzhou said their dispute with the authorities had begun with a conflict over plans by a power company to build a coal-fired generator in their area, which they feared would cause heavy pollution. Farmers said they had not been compensated for the use of the land for the plant. Others said plans to reclaim land by filling in a local bay as part of the power plant project were unacceptable because people have made their livelihoods there as fishermen for generations. Already, villagers complained, work crews have been blasting a nearby mountainside for rubble for the landfill.

A small group of villagers was delegated to complain to the authorities about the plant in July, but they were arrested, infuriating other residents and encouraging others to join the protest movement. On Dec. 6, while villagers were mounting a sit-in demonstration, police made a number of arrests, bringing lots of people out into the streets, where they managed to detain several officers. In response, hundreds of law enforcement agents were rushed to the scene. Everybody, young and old, "went out to watch," said one man who claimed his cousin had been killed by a police officer's bullet in the forehead. "We didn't expect they were so evil. The farmers had no means to resist them."

Early reports from the village said the police opened fire only after villagers began throwing homemade bombs and other missiles, but villagers reached by telephone today denied this, saying that a few farmers had launched ordinary fireworks at the police as part of their protest. "Those were not bombs, they were fireworks, the kind that fly up into the sky," said one witness reached by telephone. "The organizers didn't have any money, so someone bought fireworks and placed them there. At the moment the trouble started many of the demonstrators were holding them, and of those who held fireworks, almost everyone was killed."

Other witnesses estimated that 10 people were killed immediately in the first volley of automatic gunfire. "I live not far from the scene, and I was running as fast as I could," said one witness, who declined to give his name. "I dragged one of the people they killed, a man in his 30's who was shot in his chest. Initially I thought he might survive, because he was still breathing, but he was panting heavily, and as soon as I pulled him aside, he died."

The witness said that he, too, had come under fire when the police saw him coming to the aid of the dying man. The Chinese government has yet to issue a statement about the incident, nor has it been reported in the state media. Reached by telephone, an official in the city of Shanwei, which has jurisdiction over the village, said, "Yes, there was an incident, but we don't know the details." The official said an official announcement would be made on Saturday.

Villagers said that in addition to the regular security forces, the authorities had enlisted thugs from local organized crime groups to help put down the demonstration. "They had knives and sticks in their hands, and they were two or three layers thick, lining the road," one man said. "They stood in front of the armed police, and when the tear gas was launched, the thugs were all ducking."

Like the Dongzhou incident itself, most of the thousands of riots and public disturbances recorded in China this year have involved environmental, property rights and land use issues. Among other problems, in trying to come to grips with the growing rural unrest, the Chinese government is wrestling with a yawning gap in incomes between farmers and urban dwellers, and rampant corruption in local government, where unaccountable officials deal away communal property rights, often for their own profit.

Finally, mobile telephone technology has made it easier for people in rural China to organize, communicating news to one another by short messages, and increasingly allowing them to stay in touch with members of non-governmental organizations in big cities who are eager to advise them or provide legal help.

Over the last three days, residents of the village say that other than people looking for their missing relatives, few people have dared go outside. Meanwhile, the police and other security forces have reportedly combed the village house by house, looking for leaders of the demonstration and making arrests.

Residents said that after the villagers' demonstration was suppressed a senior Communist Party official came to the hamlet from the nearby city of Shanwei and addressed residents with a megaphone. "Shanwei and Dongzhou are still good friends," the party official said. "We're not here against you. We are here to make the construction of the Red Sea Bay better. Later, the official reportedly told visitors, "all of the families who have people who died must send a representative to the police for a solution."

Today, a group of 100 or so bereaved villagers gathered at a bridge leading into the town, briefly blocking access to security forces hoisting a white banner whose black-ink characters read: "The dead suffered a wrong. Uphold justice."

ASIAN oil consumption may double as China and other developing nations in the region need more of the fuel to feed their booming economies, said Marc Faber, who publishes The Gloom, Boom & Doom monthly newsletter.

Asian nations are consuming 21 million barrels of oil a day, compared to global production of 83 million barrels, said Faber, managing director of Marc Faber Ltd., which manages US$300 million (US$1 = RM3.78).

Rising demand for crude oil, along with two hurricanes that disabled most US production in the Gulf of Mexico this year, led prices to a record US$70.85 a barrel on August 30.

Oil producers are struggling to raise output due to a lack of investment in new plants and fields.

“After 1965, not a single large oil field has been discovered,” said Faber at a Commodity Investment World conference in Sydney.

“I doubt the incremental supply of oil in the next 10 years will match the incremental demand from Asia,” he added.

Production from Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, will likely decline over time, said Faber.

China’s economy, the world’s seventh-largest, has tripled to US$1.7 trillion in the past decade, expanding by an average 8.7 per cent a year, as the Government encouraged investments to create jobs and improve living standards.