Written by John Lounsbury
Early Bird Headlines 18 October 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
‘We Need an Energy Miracle’ (The Atlantic) Bill Gates has committed his fortune to moving the world beyond fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. Gates says that even if a new technology is cost effective there will inertia maintaining the old systems and resistance to change.
World Markets Weekend Update: The Shanghai Surge (Doug Short, Advisor Perspectives dshort.com) Six of the eight indexes in the Short world watch list posted gains over the past week, although two of the six nudged into the green by less than 0.1%. The big winner was the Shanghai Composite, up an impressive 6.54%, which follows its 4.27% gain last week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was a distant second with its 2.71% advance. The two finishers in the red, the FTSE and Nikkei, posted modest losses – less than a percent each.
U.S.
This 15-year-old won $25,000 for devising a genius way to harvest energy from the ocean (Business Insider) Hannah Herbst wants to bring renewable energy to the developing world. The 15-year-old from Boca Raton, Florida, won this year’s Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for designing a probe to generate power and fresh water for developing countries by harvesting it from ocean currents. This concept is not new (see article under UK) but what is unusual is the model was constructed using a 3-D printer, some PV pipe and a pulley arrangement to power a generator for a total cost of $12 (we assume not including the generator). An application suggested by the young scientist was charging batteries which could be used near the point of generation to run a desalinization pump for fresh water production in the developing world (or, Econintersect suggests, California).
Apple In The Enterprise: IBM Tries To Make The Case (Seeking Alpha) Hat tip to Marvin Clark.
IBM has deployed Mac OS X and iOS devices to 130,000 users within the company, all supported by a mere 24 IT personnel.
IBM has become convinced that TCO for Apple Macs is lower than for Windows.
With IBM’s help, Apple may be able to start convincing the rest of the corporate world.
Governor of Hawaii declares state of emergency for homelessness (Al Jazeera) Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness per-capita of any state in the nation. The move will help the state speed up the process of building a homeless shelter for families, and the state is considering four possible sites.
EU
Thousands of migrants surge into Slovenia in new route (Associated Press) Migrants surged into the tiny alpine country of Slovenia on Saturday as an alternative route opened in Europe for them after Hungary sealed its border for their free flow. Slovenia, a country of some 2 million people, has said it would beef up border controls and create entry points for migrants to manage the influx, but would keep accepting them as long as Austria and Germany kept their borders open. Slovenia’s government has cleared the way for the armed forces to assist police in managing the influx. Officials said the army would provide logistical support to the police. Slovenia has said it will permit 2,000 refugees to cross its borders daily.
UK
Swansea Bay tidal energy scheme strives to generate waves of optimism (The Guardian) Critics have dubbed it Britain’s ‘pottiest’ renewable energy plan, but supporters of the controversial tidal lagoon project say it can revitalize the area. But tide driven generation of electricity is already in operation for 45 years now at La Rance in north-western France.
Luxury London Home Prices Seen Rising 21.5% in Next Five Years (Bloomberg) There will be a dip in values of 2% this year in the capital’s best locations, where average prices start at about £5 million ($7.75 million), because of higher taxes, according to a report by London broker Savills Plc. The next four years are expected to see an increase of 23.5% for five-year net of 21.5%. In other prime areas, which are less affected by new stamp duty charges, prices are expected to rise by 2% this year and by 18.2% through 2020. Sales of luxury homes have slowed since Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne increased the sales tax in December. The levy escalates to 12% on every pound a buyer spends above £1.5 million, with the purchaser of a £5 million home paying £513,750 in duty, almost £164,000 more than before.
Philippines
Philippines battered as Typhoon Koppu barrels in (BBC News) Homes have been flattened, power lines toppled, and thousands of people have fled their homes as Typhoon Koppu swept into the northern Philippines. Disaster agency officials said the storm was also whipping up coastal surges 4m (12ft) high. The huge, slow-moving typhoon made landfall near the town of Casiguran on the island of Luzon on Sunday morning. Koppu is predicted to bring three days of torrential rain, triggering major flooding and possibly landslides.
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