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Germany Says GMOs in Restaurant Food Must Be Labeled; Bayer Pulls Out in UK

Reuters reports that restaurant and canteen food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) must be clearly marked when new rules on GMO labelling take effect in April. On April 18 new European Union rules require food sold in retail venues must be labelled if it contains GMOs. Animal feed sold to farmers also has to be labelled. The German Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Alexander Mueller said in a statement, that the ministry has completed talks with German state authorities, responsible for food inspections, and food industry associations to achieve a smooth implementation of the new regulations. "It is now the responsibility of the private sector to fulfill its labelling responsibilities," he added. He expects state authorities to increase food inspections from April 18. In other news, Reuters reports that UK green groups hailed Bayer's (XETRA:BAYG.DE) decision to shelve plans to sell genetically modified (GMO)maize to farmers in Britain because of tight government restrictions. "GM maize had serious question marks about its safety and performance and should never have been given UK approval," Friends of the Earth campaigner Pete Riley said in a statement after Bayer announced its decision. The UK government had given Bayer limited approval for its Chardon LL […]

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Hundreds of Major Facilities Violating Clean Water Act

Analysis of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds more than 60 percent of industrial and municipal facilities across the country exceeded their Clean Water Act permit limits at least once between January 2002 and June 2003 – and did so by an average of six times their legal limits. The data on facilities' compliance with the Clean Water Act was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and released Tuesday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Nationally, 436 major facilities exceeded their Clean Water Act permit limits for at least 10 of the 18 reporting periods between January 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003. Thirty-five facilities exceeded their Clean Water Act permits during every reporting period between January 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003. U.S. PIRG environmental advocate Richard Caplan says the findings are an indictment of the Bush administration's disinterest in enforcing one of the nation's most important environmental laws. "We need strong action to address this illegal pollution, but the Bush administration has instead proposed slashing the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement budget and weakening critical Clean Water Act programs," Caplan said. Caplan added that the report's findings are likely conservative, since the data […]

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Japan: Houses With Solar Get Discounted Loan Rates

Sumitomo Trust offers lower loan rates for houses with solar energy. Kyodo News reports that Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. said Tuesday it will offer lower housing loan rates for buyers of houses from Sekisui Chemical Co. that are equipped with a solar energy generation system. Sumitomo Trust will lower interest rates by 1.7 percentage points from its usual lending rates if such buyers take out long-term loans of either 20 or 30 years at a fixed rate. The current rates for these loans are 4.65% for 20-year loans and 4.8% for 30-year loans. They will reduce the rate even further, .05 point, if the solar power generation capacity of the home totals 3 kilowatts (kW); with additional reductions 4 and 5 kW. Thus, for a 30-year loan for a home with a 5 kW solar PV system, the interest rate will be lowered by 1.85 points to 2.95%.

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India: BHEL Wins 1.26 MW Solar Project

The electronics division of Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), a leading engineering company in India, has a prestigious contract to supply 1.26 megawatt (MW) of solar water pumping (SVP) systems to Punjab. The contract is for supply, installation, commissioning and after sales service of 700 sets of SPV water pumping systems for the Punjab Energy Development Agency, valued at Rs 19 crore. This is the single largest order for solar photovoltaics won by Bhel, against stiff competition from leading players in the field, the company press release said. Bhel will supply and install the systems over the next few months. The system consists of a 1800 wp solar PV array which is directly connected to a 2 HP DC surface pump. During sunshine hours, the PV array converts sunlight to electricity and provides this power to run the pump. The pump will be used for providing drinking water as well as for irrigation purposes by individual farmers.

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