Solar panels which were removed by Ronald Reagan in one of his first acts as US President have been re-installed to the roof of the White House.

Some two decades after Mr Reagan’s decision to remove solar panels which were first installed under President Jimmy carter have now returned to The White House.

The move was announced by America’s energy sectary, Steven Chu, and has the full backing of current president Barack Obama.

Mr Chu said: “As you know, president Obama has a strong commitment to American leadership in solar technologies and the jobs they will create.”

“We’re taking an important next step, as we move toward a clean energy economy; the White House will lead by example.”

“I’m pleased to announce that, by the end of this spring, there will be solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House.”

“These two solar installations will be part of a Department of Energy demonstration project.”

“The project will show American solar technology is available, reliable, and ready to install in homes throughout the country.”

So what exactly do we call the White House now, if they keep up with all these environmental gadgets it may one day be referred to as the greenest White House in history, which could get a little confusing.

The oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico has finally stopped, though the cost of the damage still remains unknown. At present the oil company BP has paid out a staggering $9.5bn (£6.4bn).  They have set up a compensation fund of $20bn which gives the impression the cost is far from complete.

The compensation fund is now run by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, as President Obama decided the fund would not be put under the control of BP or the US government, but an impartial third party. Since this move the compensation paid out has almost trebled from $3.5m a day to $12.5m a day.

They have paid out 19,000 claims which total $240m; they have had to pay fisherman, hoteliers, retailers and other parties affected by the disaster. It took a shocking 5 months to plug the hole. Thad Allen, a former Coast Guard Admiral who is heading the US Government to the spill declared the well ‘effectively dead’ after a pressure test by BP.

The new incoming Chief Executive, Bob Dudley who officially takes charge at BP from 1 October, said the company expects to pay out less than the committed $20bn and has set up a facility for whatever remains of the fund to be paid back to BP.

I personally feel that the full $20bn should be paid in some form. There has been a lot of bad press since the accident, 11 workers sadly lost their lives and the wildlife and environment has taken a real hit, so perhaps they should concentrate on making amends for this disaster rather than seeing how they can scrape back a couple of quid.

Arsenal FC has announced they will be playing the next season in a home kit made out of recycled bottles.

They say they have got a ‘traditional’ design made with the latest cutting edge technology.

Every shirt which will be entirely made from recycled polyester, from up to eight plastic water bottles. It will be part of the Nike’s ‘Considered Design’ programme, which uses discarded plastic bottles that have been diverted from landfill in the manufacturing process.

The shirt is now 13% lighter than any previous kit and helps quickly evaporate moisture by drawing it through the fabric to the surface.

England and Arsenal winger Theo Walcott summed the new kit up: “The colours are very traditional, it feels nice and it’s made from recycled plastic bottles so what more can you ask for?

“It fits and feels nice, and that’s the most important thing, I think it’s important that you feel comfortable in it.”

The Welsh Assembly Government set out plans to create a zero-waste society.

Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson spoke about the countries new waste strategy “Towards Zero Waste”.

While the minister was eager to show she was ‘broadly supportive’ of methods that get results, she made it clear that Welsh would not go down the route of punishing or rewarding those involved in the programme.

She completely ruled out copying schemes like Recycle-Bank which looks likely to be used across London after being supported by Mayor Boris Johnson and his waste advisor Isobel Dedring

Ms Davidson said: “In England the focus is on how to make people recycle more – in Wales we recognise it’s more important to stop this waste in the first place.”

“We believe that our plans – including separate food waste collections and smaller bins – will do this.”

“Costly measures like those adopted in England, such as retaining a weekly bin collection or rewarding people for throwing more recyclable rubbish away, won’t.”

Welsh targets will aim for at least 70% of waste recycled by 2025 and cut carbon by 27%.

The Welsh minister said Wales has risen its recycling more than any other country in the UK, with an increase of 30% in the past decade beating England who has only managed a 25% increase.

Wales also were the first in the UK to introduce Landfill Allowance Scheme and have passed every target set out under it.

BuilderScrap supports the Welsh waste strategy!

The North West is bracing itself for a drought this summer. Usually one of the wettest parts of the country, it has seen less rainfall in the past five months than in the past couple of decades.

Reservoir water stocks are beginning to run low however it’s a long way before the taps run dry. John Sanders from United Utilities which provides most of the regions water has urged for the public to use water sparingly but offered reassurances that there is no imminent drought worries.

“We are certainly not applying for drought permits – nor are we about to introduce a hosepipe ban,” he said.

“[But] if this dry weather continues we have strategies in place to maintain essential supplies to customers.”

“We are following our normal plans for dry weather conditions, which include making use of our highly integrated supply network to balance supply and demand across the region.”

“We will also make use of reserve groundwater sources to augment supplies if required.”

“While we’re taking action to manage supplies, it is a good time to remind our customers that water is a precious resource.”

The water company has taken a couple of precautions for example they are offering free water saving packs and a water-use calculator to help customers cut their water use.

Clive Gaskell, The Environment Agency’s water manager added: “We are working closely with United Utilities to protect the region’s water supplies in both the short and long term whilst protecting the environment and wildlife.

“We all need to use less water and if everyone makes little changes to reduce the amount of water they use it all adds up to a huge amount of water being saved.”

There has been a huge step forward in creating a zero carbon business park, with an initial planning nod from the local council and its being backed officially by the Environment Agency. The park will be situated near Truro, in Cornwall.

Zero carbon will be achieved by the inclusion of a wind turbine, two small-scale hydro-power schemes, geothermal heating, a biomass plant and a photovoltaic solar farm, according to Bernard Ballard the director of marketing and property for the project.

This week Cornwall County Council granted planning consent for a mast to monitor whether a planned wind turbine on the Baldhu site would be effective.

Mr Ballard said: “The monitoring mast is a temporary structure to gather data as part of the wind energy investigation on the site.”

“Our work on the green energy plan as a whole is also progressing well, the site could be self-sufficient in its energy demands and will be able to export any surplus power to the national grid.”

“The development will also include a number of zero carbon workshops and office buildings.”

“A key aspect of the project is to capitalise on the site’s natural resources to generate its energy needs.”

He added that the hydropower scheme will be powered by an old waste water stream using the flow of water from the mine treatment plant at Wheal Jane, which is operated by the Environment Agency.

Mark Pilcher, of the Environment Agency who backed the scheme, said: “By supporting development of these renewable energy projects, we are helping to limit and adapt to the effects of climate change.”

“Operating the mine water de-pollution plant at Wheal Jane is energy intensive – often using seven large electric pumps running for 24 hours a day.”

“By diverting the treated water discharge through a hydropower system, the lost energy can be recovered.”

“This will create more green electricity to feed in to the national grid, reducing the amount of fossil fuel derived power which needs to be produced.”

After our recent blog regarding the state of London’s air quality, I thought I would find out how bad our problem is in relation to some places around the world.

In La Oroya, Peru, lead, copper, zinc and sulphur dioxide poisoning caused by heavy metal mining and processing is harming the world every day. Lead is seen as the biggest problem because of the effect it has on children. 99% of the children who live there have blood levels that excess acceptable limits and Neurologists at local hospitals state that even newborn children have high blood lead levels, inherited while still in the womb. A poly-metallic smelter seems to be the main problem which is owned by Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation. In 1999 a survey showed the World Health Organization (WHO) limit was triple what it’s supposed to be. Lead will continue to contaminate the environment for centuries to come. Activities are now underway to curtail emissions and clean up contamination.

Once a major Soviet industrial centre, Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, had more than 40 factories manufacturing industrial and agricultural chemicals. When fully operational 70-120,000 tonnes of harmful emissions were released annually. A continuing lack of pollution controls, dated technologies and the improper disposal and treatment of industrial waste are but a few of the problems that plague the city. Cancer cases in the area are 22-51% higher than the average in the rest of Azerbaijan and a high percentage of premature births and genetic defects are just a few of the symptoms the people there still face. Reports show only 20% of the Soviet Era factories are still operational and with the closure of the rest of them a matter of time, the biggest problem a head will be the clean up of the years of pollution and chemical waste left behind.

The last 2 big polluters, both come from China, the first is in Tianying, the city accounts for over 50% of China’s lead production. Due to poor technology, illegal operation and a lack of any proper legislation there is a severe lead poisoning crisis. The average lead concentration in both the air and soil is between 8-10 times higher than national standards, but in some cases can be as high as 24 times higher. The health impacts are vast, anything from lower IQ’s and stomach pains to kidney malfunction and brain damage. There have also been reports of numerous premature births and undeveloped infants.

Then onto Linfen, the heart of China’s enormous growing coal industry, China’s state Environment Protection Agency says that Linfen has the worst air pollution in the country, the World Bank says that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are Chinese, which really is saying something about the state of this city. The reason for this is due to rapid development, ridiculous faith in the industry and the development of hundreds of unregulated coal mines, steel factories and refineries. All those factors have lead to growing cases of bronchitis, pneumonia, and lung cancer.

On June 9 2010 Scotland has announced they will reduce 20M tonnes of waste to zero.

The Scottish Government’s zero waste plan was released by Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead.

The document by the Scots speaks of a complete stop on all reusable waste or recycling being landfilled by 2020.

They have also set 2 new targets on all of Scotland’s waste, one being a 70% target for recycling and secondly, a maximum of only 5% sent to landfill, both have a target year of 2025.

Mr Lochhead said: “We can’t go on as business as usual because we can’t afford to and because resources are finite.

“We are taking decisive action and setting ambitious targets, this includes a new 70% target for all waste to be recycled by 2025.”

“The plan will help deliver progressive landfill bans, with the end goal of no waste with reuse or recycling potential being landfilled by 2020.”

BuilderScrap encourages moves such as this and hope the English Government looks at this complete stamp out of waste and inspires them to be so bold.

One of the largest offshore windfarms in the world will begin construction next year an energy firm has announced. The £2bn Gwynt y Mor windfarm will have 160 turbines about 10 miles away from the shore, near Colwyn Bay and Llandudno.

Work will begin the later part of next year, the windfarm is expected to begin generating power as early as 2013 but the RWE Innogy-led project is not expected to be completed until 2014. The project will also involve two other partners, Stadtwerke München and Siemens.

Some of the residents in Llandudno have tried to stop the project claiming it will destroy the resort’s view out to sea.

The government’s decision to grant planning permission was criticised by protesters who also said wind energy was unreliable.

There is a possibility that 1,000 jobs will be created regarding the construction and supply of materials.

Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said: “This is excellent news. Gwynt y Mor will be one of the single biggest private investment projects ever seen in Wales, creating up to 1,000 quality jobs and contributing many millions of pounds to the regional economy of north Wales.”

“It will also become one of the largest offshore windfarm projects in Europe, able to provide enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of around 400,000 homes.”

“In Wales we are ideally located to embrace the economic benefits of green technologies. Surrounded by wind, wave and tidal resources, we are in a prime position to be able to benefit from investment in the green economy whilst making a significant contribution to the [UK] government’s carbon reduction targets through safe, clean renewable means.”

Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said, “This £2bn investment in north Wales, which was previously opposed by David Cameron, is only happening thanks to the pioneering work undertaken by Ed Miliband when he was Labour’s Energy Secretary. Gwynt y Mor will be Wales’ largest wind farm, capable of powering around 400,000 homes, and preventing the release of 1.7m tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.”

After the announcement that the Government has given permission, contracts worth £2.2m have already been awarded to companies based in Wales. More contracts and jobs are expected to be awarded throughout the development and to provide maintance once complete.

UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said: “This is the first of what I hope will be many examples of how we can make the most of our island’s huge renewable energy potential.

“I want to make sure we grab all the opportunities the rapidly expanding renewables industry has to offer, and that wind power can come of age under this government.”

RWE has invested in other windfarms off the north Wales coast such as North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats.

Rhyl Flats, which was officially opened at the end of last year, is currently Wales’ largest wind farm.

We here BuilderScrap are truly excited by the action Wales has taken to become a more energy efficient country.

London’s air contains particles known as PM10’s which are released by traffic and factories, this can lead to heart attacks, strokes, asthma and lung disease. The quality of the air has become so bad that the UK have been issued with a second written warning by Europe to clean the air or face £300m in fines.

A House of Commons environmental audit committee said that particle pollution has claimed the lives of over 4,300 people a year in London and has an annual cost of around £2bn.

London’s air pollution levels rank as the worst in the UK and also among the worst in Europe.

This move follows the start of legal proceeding against the UK from January 2009 for the failure to meet the air quality standards that were introduced at the end of 2004. The final act of the Labour party was to reapply for a time extension until 2011.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has the statutory duty to produce a strategy for improving London’s air quality. Opposition parties have criticised Johnson for destroying the environment policies put in place by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, for example his decision to delay phase 3 of Low Emission Zone (Lez), which fines the most polluting vans was seen as a backwards step.

His plan to abolish the western extension of the congestion charge zone by Christmas has also been scrutinized. Lez has been introduced to encourage the scrapping of high-polluting vans and lorries and replacing them with new models that meet the required emissions standards. The abolishment of this congestion charge will clearly lead to increased traffic which will make matters worse!

Simon Birkett, spokesman for air quality watchdog group the Campaign for Clean Air in London, said that Johnson’s draft proposals to improve air quality were “riddled with wishful thinking”.

“He continues deliberately to take backward steps on air quality, particularly in respect of transport. In that respect, for example, the removal of the Lez would be a double whammy because air quality will worsen and Transport for London will lose over £55m income.”

The UK failed in their attempt for a time extension; they have since reapplied and they are waiting a response. If the UK fails to make the appropriate changes to comply with the legislation, they could be taken to the European court of justice and face hefty fines.

The warning also forces Britain to clean up air quality in Gibraltar which is also non-compliant to the legislation and is classed by the EC as a British Zone.