Editor’s note: Editor’s note: CNN’s Destination Adventure series takes a look at travel locations for the explorer at heart. This week, we’re visiting South Africa with Cape Town native Emily Smith. Have you ever been to South Africa? Share your story with CNN iReport.
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
(CNN Student News) — August 30, 2011
Download PDF maps related to today’s show:
• North Carolina, New Jersey & Vermont
• Syria
• Mongolia
Click here to access the transcript of today’s CNN Student News program.
Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published.
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
Tune in to "Piers Morgan Tonight" at 9 ET for a closer look at how the media and government reacted to Hurricane Irene. Was it too much, and how much did it cost?
(CNN) — Hurricane Irene has come and gone, but many travelers are still going nowhere fast in the aftermath of the storm.
The airlines are just recovering after canceling thousands of flights over the weekend, some mass transit systems are still struggling, and train service remains sporadic in parts of the Northeast ravaged by Irene.
The problems created a ripple effect throughout the country, with fliers who were trying to get into the region also encountering frustrating delays.
"We got to go to work. How are we going to do that? Now we’re thinking of driving to New Jersey because we can’t stay here all this time," said Bridget Corg, who was trying to return home from Miami, CNN affiliate WSVN reported.
"I’m ready to go so I can go to work. Get to the airport, cancellation," said Jerry Delerme, who was trying to fly to New York from south Florida. "I’m flying standby, so that means I’m not getting home probably until (Tuesday)."
It will take a few days for everyone to get where they want to go, said Mateo Leras, a spokesman for JetBlue.
The airline is adding several flights Monday to take care of passengers who couldn’t fly over the weekend.
Airlines and airports getting back to normal
About 650,000 to 700,000 air travelers have been grounded since Friday because of flight cancellations prompted by Hurricane Irene, said Daniel Baker, CEO of FlightAware.com, a flight tracking service.
The good news is that many of the affected passengers made alternate arrangements, so not everyone is in the backlog that carriers are dealing with now, Baker added.
"The airlines are hoping to be back on a regular schedule this afternoon, and so at least the cancellations will dwindle down," Baker said.
"But it will be through the week" before the backlog is resolved, he said. "There’s no question that there’s really widespread ramifications."
Did Irene affect you? Share photos, video, but stay safe
Airlines are urging passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.
Those who are stuck and must pay out-of-pocket to stay at a hotel should go online and look for some great last-minute rates, said Anne Banas, executive editor at SmarterTravel.
She recommended checking Hotels.com or downloading the Hotel Tonight smartphone app for a list of same-day deals.
"You can also sometimes call a local hotel and ask for a ‘distressed travelers rate.’ Usually it’s a discount they offer in situations like these, when there are storms and people can’t get out of town," Banas said. "Doesn’t always work."
But there’s hope stranded fliers will see an improvement soon.
Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the slowest air travel days of the week, which will help travelers get on the flights they want, said Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman for US Airways.
The airline reached out to 90,000 people ahead of the weekend to reschedule their itineraries, he said.
Most passengers were accommodated before the storm began, American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. The carrier is considering extra flights if there’s a lot of overflow and demand, she said.
Airlines including American and US Airways said they don’t expect any impact on Labor Day travel.
"This is a well-prepared(-for) and well-planned event," Baker said. "The airlines announced it really well, they canceled flights, and they’re getting back going again. … It comes off as very organized."
Still, some travelers abroad are having trouble coming back to the United States.
CNN’s Deborah Feyerick, who has been traveling in Greece, was supposed to return to New York on Sunday, but the first flight on which her airline could rebook her was Thursday.
Australian traveler Shaun Cunningham is stranded in Costa Rica. He was supposed to fly back to London via New York, but his travel agent told him he wouldn’t be able to take that route until September 10. So Cunningham paid 1,200 pounds for a one-way ticket that connects via a different country, allowing him to fly out sooner.
Meanwhile, train travel is still feeling the impact of Hurricane Irene.
All Amtrak service between Boston and Philadelphia is canceled because of the extensive flooding, debris on tracks and power issues due to the storm.
There’s also no Acela Express service between Boston and Washington.
New Jersey rail service is suspended until further notice, but bus and light rail service is operating on a modified schedule on Monday.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has suspended a number of regional rail lines.
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
Remember all those stories saying "TV is dead"? Google is full of them – about 949,000, according to its own calculation.
People are also buying more – and bigger – TV sets, according to TV Licensing, with more than two million 40-inch-plus sets sold last year.
Far from being killed by the internet, television viewing has never been more popular. Some in the industry claim TV is now set to be the dominant partner, creatively at least.
John McVey, director of the producers' association PACT, said internet companies were crying out for top quality television content to feed the demands of its audience.
YouTube (owned by Google) is one. Created on the back of "user generated content", with millions of ordinary people sharing their video clips, the company now has a director whose job is to build its partnerships with broadcasters and other professional content providers.
In a session called The Battle for the Living Room, Ben McOwen-Wilson said a major priority for YouTube this year was to bring more "high-end" content onto the platform by offering to split advertising revenue with broadcasters and independent producers.
Channel 4 was the first broadcaster in the world to put its full catch-up service on YouTube.
Another priority, McOwen-Wilson said, was to make it easier for people to watch YouTube on the television screen – a further example of how TV and the internet need each other.
Reporting challenge
TV may still be much more popular, but the internet can add millions of viewers to some audiences.
More than half the viewing to ITV2's The Only Way Is Essex is online and catch-up viewing is almost as important for some editions of the BBC's A Question of Sport and Torchwood.
The Royal Wedding was live-streamed 72 million times in 188 countries, even though almost every broadcast outlet was showing the footage.
This was the underlying theme of the festival – not which of the two was going to "win", but their convergence, and how this is changing the way people watch and engage with programmes, often using two screens at a time.
"The internet is fundamental to the future of television because it is a platform for things that traditional TV cannot support," said Dr Schmidt.
"I think we're on the cusp of a golden age for TV – a vast choice, made manageable by a magical guide, ensuring there's always something wonderful to watch."
The internet enables us to have mobile and video-on-demand devices such as the iPad, Sky+ and the iPlayer, and services such as iTunes; electronic programme guides, which help viewers find programmes and channels more easily; and social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook which let people share comments and draw attention to compelling programmes, through hashtags and the "like" button.
It was Twitter that alerted the world to Alex Crawford's remarkable Sky News reports from Tripoli, as she joined the rebel convoy on its triumphant progress into the Libyan capital, through thousands of cheering people, hugging and kissing the soldiers.
In a memorable Worldview session at the festival, the award-winning reporter was interviewed live from Tripoli with her camera crew.
She vividly described the technological challenge of bringing the pictures to the world, with a lap-top linked to the satellite, balanced on the bonnet of the pick-up truck, powered by the vehicle's cigarette lighter.
And she reminded the audience of the continuing importance of experienced reporters from established news organisations, in an age when anyone can upload video and other "user-generated content" to the internet.
"People didn't believe what was happening in Tripoli til they saw the pictures – and a journalist they could trust, on the ground," she said.
'Giant predator'
But how is all this television content going to be paid for in the future?
Sky itself seems secure, with a firm base of 10 million paying subscribers.
Often criticised for not spending enough on "traditional" TV programmes, a Sky executive described how it was rapidly increasing its investment in UK drama, comedy and arts programmes, as well as buying HBO series for its Sky Atlantic channel.
Others are more concerned about their income.
Can the convergence of television and the internet help replace the advertising revenue being sucked away from traditional broadcasters and newspapers by the web?
In a session called Chasing the Convergence Cash, ITV and Channel Four spelled out their attempts to harness the new opportunities, but it was said that Apple's iTunes was the only service making proper money out of video-on-demand.
And what about Google itself, often seen as a giant predator?
Dr Schmidt denied claims that Google was a parasite, taking billions of pounds in advertising without investing in content.
He insisted Google was a friend of television, not a foe, and had shared $6bn (£3.7bn) worldwide with its publishing partners in newspapers and broadcasting.
It was also entering into a partnership with the UK's National TV and Film School, to fund a course in online film-making.
But John McVey of Pact said Google needed to pay far more before independent producers would consider it as a regular outlet for their programmes.
Google may not be a foe – but the consensus among TV folk in Edinburgh was that it's not yet a true friend.
Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here
(CNN Student News) — August 18, 2011
Download PDF maps related to today’s show:
• Syria
• Libya & Malawi
• Joplin, Missouri
Transcript
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
YAINER OVIEDO, SENIOR, JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL: Hi, I’m Yanier Oviedo.
LYDIA MCALLISTER, SENIOR, JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL: And I’m Lydia McAllister, and we’re from Joplin High School and you’re watching CNN Student News.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Our thanks to Lydia and Yainer, whom you might remember from yesterday’s program. They were helping us kick off today’s show. We’re gonna hear more from them in just a few minutes. I’m Carl Azuz. Let’s get to today’s headlines.
First Up: Arab Spring
AZUZ: First up, we’re checking in on two countries in turmoil that are both located in the same part of the world. Earlier this year, parts of the Middle East and Northern Africa experienced something that was called an "Arab Spring." Basically, protesters in a bunch of countries revolted against their governments. In some cases, it led to longtime leaders being kicked out of power. In most nations, it led to violence.
That’s what we’re seeing in Syria, the first country we’re talking about today. The violence there has gone on for months. There are reports that Syrian military forces have been shooting at civilians who are speaking out against the Syrian government. Syrian officials deny that. They say they’re targeting armed groups and terrorists. And CNN can’t confirm the claims from either side because Syria won’t let outside journalists into the country. What we do know is that this isn’t just affecting Syrians. The United Nations usually has more than 160 workers in Syria. But it’s pulling dozens of them out because of the violence. Other countries who also have officials in Syria have told them to leave as well.
The north African nation of Libya was also part of that "Arab Spring." The conflict there developed into a civil war. Rebels, like the ones you see in this video that was posted on YouTube, are fighting against the forces of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The rebels say they’re making progress in their efforts to get closer to the capital city of Tripoli, but Gadhafi has been urging his supporters to fight back. The rebels and Libyan military aren’t the only ones involved here. Other countries — including the U.S., as well as Great Britain and France — are part of a NATO mission that’s been flying air strikes against Gadhafi’s forces. Over the past week, NATO planes have damaged or destroyed around 150 military targets.
Failing State
AZUZ: Next up, we’re heading down to southern Africa, to the nation of Malawi, home to around 16 million people. Spring may be long gone, but some people in Malawi are trying to piggy-back off what’s happened in the "Arab Spring." These people are protesting against their government. It hasn’t developed into anything like what we’re seeing in Syria or Libya, but the situation is getting dire. Nkepile Mabuse looks at what’s behind all this.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Inspired by the "Arab Spring," Malawians took to the streets last month calling for President Bingu wa Mutharika to resign. The country’s human rights commission says police used live ammunition against unarmed civilians, killing 19 people.
This is but one of the many reasons behind the angry demonstrations: just about everything in Malawi is in short supply. People here blame the president for mismanaging the economy. They’ve demanded he explains why he’s seemingly so wealthy while all they know is hardship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, MALAWI: People are starving. There is no medicine in the hospitals
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, MALAWI: You go to the shops, people are not buying goods because it’s very difficult to find money and the future looks very bleak.
MABUSE: President wa Mutharika has threatened to "smoke out" those who protest again, but organizers are determined to return to the streets. Malawians are not the only ones demanding good governance. In June, the IMF suspended its financial assistance to Malawi citing economic mismanagement. Britain, the European Union and the United States have also cut aid. Malawi, which was hit by a devastating famine in 2005, is one of the poorest countries in the world. Without the help of foreign governments, many here fear the worst. Wa Mutharika has asked the nation for more time to address their needs, but many here have told us their patience has run out. Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Malawi.
(END VIDEO)
I.D. Me
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See of you can I.D. Me. I’m a U.S. government organization that’s part of the Health and Human Services Department. I’m responsible for protecting and advancing public health, and I establish rules for the nation’s food supply. I’m the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, and I’m responsible for regulating parts of the tobacco industry.
FDA Warning Label Lawsuit
AZUZ: Specifically, the FDA deals with the manufacturing, marketing and the distribution of tobacco products. The organization’s facing a lawsuit because of a new rule about cigarette packages. In June, the FDA introduced nine new warning labels. Those include graphic images of what could happen to your body if you smoke. Officials say they’re designed to make people more aware of the dangers of cigarettes. According to the new rules, half the space on each cigarette package would have to display one of these labels by September 2012.
Five tobacco companies have filed a lawsuit against the government. They say these new warning labels are unconstitutional. Their argument is that the government shouldn’t require companies that are making a legal product to put a label on it that essentially urges people not to buy it. An FDA spokeswoman said the agency doesn’t comment on unresolved lawsuits.
Is This Legit?
JIM RIBBLE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? On the Enhanced Fujita scale, an EF-5 is the strongest category of tornado. True! The scale measures a tornado’s wind speed by the damage that the storm causes.
Learning in a Disaster Zone
AZUZ: To put this in perspective: An EF-1 tornado might pull the shingles off your roof. An EF-5 would rip the entire house off its foundation. That’s what roared through Joplin, Missouri last Fall: an EF-5 tornado. Yesterday, we had a report on the start of the new school year in Joplin. And I had a chance to talk with two of the students who were featured in that report. You saw them introduce today’s show. I asked them some of the questions you posted on our blog.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
AZUZ: Yainer, can you describe the mood for us of the students you’ve spoken to as you guys get back to school in Joplin?
OVIEDO: Yeah. So far, the mood’s been really great. Everyone’s excited. We got our laptops today during third and fourth hour, so everyone’s really happy about it.
AZUZ: Lydia, in an article you wrote for CNN.com, you said you were "more excited than usual" to get back to school this year. Talk to us about that.
MCALLISTER: It’s nice going to school every day. Just the normality of it all. It’s been such a crazy summer. Now going to school this week, that’s all the same.
AZUZ: There’s a student on our blog named Montana who wanted to know how difficult it was to prepare for school this year, since so many people lost their supplies in the tornado. What was that like?
MCALLISTER: Actually, we got almost everything donated to our school. So, none of the students had to buy school supplies this year. We even got backpacks given to us with the laptops. So, that’s been really great.
AZUZ: You know, a lot of students saw the story today on CNN Student News; they were really interested in about what it’s like to go to school in a mall, even if it’s in an old store. In fact, Jaeyeong from Korea wanted to know what that’s like.
MCALLISTER: It’s definitely an experience. Something that not a lot of, I don’t know any other high school that has to go to school in a mall. It’s cool. The building itself is shut off from the mall completely. There’s one door, I think, that goes into the mall, but it’s closed off right now.
AZUZ: So, you don’t have direct access to shopping?
MCALLISTER: No, we’re kind of in our own little world over here. It’s nice. I like it.
AZUZ: James wanted to know if you get to eat in the food court?
OVIEDO: I guess they’re trying to see if we can earn it.
AZUZ: Would you prefer to eat there or just have the school food?
MCALLISTER: Definitely the food court.
AZUZ: I want to ask you guys what advice do you have for the students of Ringold, Georgia and Tuscaloosa, Alabama? Now, those are two other towns that were hit by tornadoes this spring. And what sort of advice would you have for students who are getting back to school there?
MCALLISTER: I think you just have to look at it as any other school year and go back knowing that, and go back with a good attitude.
OVIEDO: Stay strong. Things are going to be hard for a while. With all your friends, just going back to normal.
(END VIDEO)
Maps Promo
AZUZ: CNN Student News brings you headlines from around the globe. And on our home page — that’s CNNStudentNews.com — we help you pinpoint just where these global headlines happen. Our maps are free, downloadable and now updated for the new school year. We’re giving you some continental context. You’re gonna love it. Check ‘em out at CNNStudentNews.com.
Before We Go
AZUZ: Before we go, they say that music soothes the savage beast, which is just about the only reason we can think of why someone would stash a piano in the middle of the woods. This one was actually part of an art project. The idea was that people out hiking would find it and maybe sit down to play a song or two. That’s one way to enhance the sounds of the forest.
Goodbye
AZUZ: And it’s another way for people to get in tune with nature. If you’re keyed up for more headlines, come on back tomorrow. For CNNStudentNews.com, I’m Carl Azuz.
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
ITV1 has been named terrestrial channel of the year for the first time at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
The channel's success was announced on Saturday at the festival's Arqiva Channel of the Year Awards, now in their 10th year.
ITV1 has had particular success this last year with the period drama series Downton Abbey and Coronation Street's 50th anniversary shows.
BBC Three won the digital channel gong.
It is the second year in a row that BBC Three – home to shows such as Young, Dumb and Living Off Mum and the BBC's coverage of music festivals including Glastonbury – has won the accolade.
BBC One's Sherlock won the award for the best terrestrial show.
Sherlock, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as the eccentric detective and Dr Watson, also picked up a Bafta television award earlier this year.
E4's The Inbetweeners was named digital programme of the year for the second year running.
The comedy series, starring Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison, has recently been made into a feature film, released in the UK last week.
Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here
* Charges PwC, Crowe Horwath w/ negligence, malpractice
* Says their audits concealed fraud that led to Ch. 11
NEW YORK Aug 25 (Reuters) – Colonial Bancgroup Inc
(CBCDQ.PK) and its trustee filed a lawsuit against former
auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC and Crowe Horwath LLP,
charging them with accounting malpractice and professional
negligence for not catching a fraud that led to the bank’s
collapse.
The complaint was filed late on Wednesday in a Circuit
Court in Montgomery County, Alabama.
It also accuses the auditors of breach of contract, saying
that PwC’s independent audits of its financial statements
violated generally accepted accounting standards and served to
conceal the seven-year fraud that drained it of $1.8 billion
and left it with hundreds of millions of dollars in worthless
or nonexistent assets on its balance sheet.
Officials for PwC and Crowe Horwath could not immediately
be reached for comment.
“PwC’s and Crowe’s representations and reports to
BancGroup’s audit committee were reckless and grossly
inaccurate with regard to BancGroup’s true financial condition
and defendants’ compliance with professional standards,” said
the Alabama-based bank in its complaint.
“Had PwC and Crowe properly discharged their professional
duties, the ongoing fraud and the hole in BancGroup’s balance
sheet … would have been detected by no later than fiscal
year-end 2007,” the complaint said.
As it turned out, Bancorp said it did not find out about
the fraud being committed in its Orlando, Florida-based
mortgage warehouse lending division until a raid by federal
authorities on Aug. 3, 2009.
The bank was forced to close on Aug. 14, 2009, and
voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
Montgomery, Alabama on Aug. 25, 2009.
Its bankruptcy plan was confirmed in June 2011, the same
month that Catherine Kissick, former head of the mortgage
warehouse lending division, was sentenced to eight years in
federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy
to commit bank, securities and wire fraud.
Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker
Mortgage Corp, and the fraud’s mastermind, was later convicted
on 14 counts of conspiracy, bank, securities and wire fraud and
sentenced to 30 years.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Bernard Orr)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here
Broadway shows have all been cancelled as New York braces itself for the full force of Hurricane Irene to strike.
All musicals and plays on and off Broadway shut on Saturday.
They included Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall and War Horse at Lincoln Center Theater.
"The safety and security of theatregoers and employees is everyone's primary concern," said Paul Libin, chairman of the national trade association the Broadway League.
The theatre closures became inevitable after New York officials ordered the city's transit system to shut down.
Refunds or exchanges were being made to disappointed would-be audience members.
The shutdown in the event of an emergency is the first since the blackout of 2003, which affected 50 million people in North America and Canada, caused by the sudden failure of FirstEnergy's Eastlake plant.
This time, the lights going out in theatreland has led to the musical Chicago having to delay becoming Broadway's longest-running American musical.
That milestone was due to be reached on Saturday with the staging of its 6,138th show. It has now to wait until Monday night, at the earliest.
Other venues to close include the off-Broadway complexes 59E59 Theaters and New World Stages, the latter of which is home to Rent, Avenue Q and Million Dollar Quartet.
Organisers of the New York International Fringe Festival, which has been offering almost 200 small shows over the past few weeks, also cancelled all its Saturday and Sunday events.
Ferocious winds from Hurricane Irene have begun to hammer New York, bringing torrential rain and the threat of flooding in the financial district.
The worst of the storm, packing winds up to 75mph (120km/h), is due to hit New York in the next few hours.
Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here
(Updates with announcement)
* To build about 2,000 Mazda2s annually for local market
* Car to be assembled by local distributor Vina Mazda
* Factory has maximum output capacity of 10,000 cars/year
TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Mazda Motor Corp said on
Tuesday its Vietnamese partner would start assembling the Mazda2
subcompact at a new factory in central Vietnam from October,
replacing imports from Japan.
Local distributor Vina Mazda Automobile Manufacturing, in
which Mazda has no equity stake, will initially assemble about
2,000 Mazda2s a year at the Quang Nam province plant to serve
the burgeoning Vietnamese market, Mazda said in a statement.
Mazda entered Vietnam in March by making Vina Mazda its
exclusive distributor to sell the Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda6 and
CX-9 imported from Japan and the BT-50 pickup truck from
Thailand.
The Saigon Times Daily reported last month that in addition
to the Mazda2, called the Demio in Japan, the new factory would
be designed to eventually assemble other cars and light trucks
with annual output capacity of 20,000 vehicles. The vehicles
would be sold in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries,
the paper said.
A Mazda spokesman said the factory would have a maximum
capacity of 10,000 vehicles a year and consider adding other
models to the production lineup.
Mazda, like other Japanese automakers, is looking to reduce
vehicle exports from Japan in the face of the strong yen, which
makes it hard for exported cars to be competitively priced or
profitable.
In June, Mazda announced plans to build a factory in Mexico
to produce the Mazda2 and Mazda3 for the Americas.
Shares in Mazda were up 3.7 percent at the midday break in
Tokyo, in line with a strong rise in other Japanese auto stocks.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Michael Watson)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here
Qatar District Cooling Company, Qatar Cool, was recognised for their Stewardship in District Energy and were presented with an award at the IDEA conference held this year in conjunction with the Canadian District Energy Association, for expanding the district energy industry by being one of the leading providers to supply the highest number of buildings outside of North America during 2010.
Qatar Cool added to its operational and contracted customers 42 new buildings in 2010, serving 6,489,357 sq. ft.
The award recognises Qatar Cool’s consistent contribution to the district energy community, which was cemented with their hosting of the prestigious association’s Middle East Chapter in November last year in Qatar.
Fayad Al Khatib, CEO of Qatar Cool and Mr. Mohannad Khader, Business Development Manager were in Toronto, Canada to receive the award at the 102nd IDEA Annual Conference.
Mr. Al Khatib noted “This award reflects Qatar Cool’s commitment to excellence and reinforces our position as an industry leader in the field of district cooling. Earning recognition from an organisation such as the International District Energy Association (IDEA) sends out the positive message of our continuous drive for meeting and exceeding our customer’s and stakeholder’s expectations.”
Qatar Cool supplies Doha’s West Bay area through two district cooling plants producing a total of 67,000 refrigerating tons of cooling. The company also owns and operates the world’s largest integrated district cooling plant on the Pearl-Qatar Island.
The accomplishments of Qatar Cool were also showcased at the IDEA conference with Mr. Al Khatib addressing a plenary session on a “Local Drivers – District Energy: Essential Infrastructure for Energy Efficient Communities”. During this session industry leaders discussed the integration and optimization of district energy, environment and economy in major urban centers.
Al Khatib highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships and the strong need for planning and engaging with all stakeholders early on in such large scale projects.
Mr. Al Khatib described the significant progress Qatar Cool had made in its six year history, supporting Qatar’s 2030 National Vision and its Environmental Development Program aimed at finding harmony between economic growth, social development and environmental protection.
He told the conference that while Qatar had one of the largest carbon footprints per head of population in the world, district cooling schemes will contribute to significant reductions of that footprint, through considerable energy savings which result in lower CO2 and other harmful gas emissions as well as the usage of ozone friendly refrigerants.
The IDEA is a non-profit industry association founded in the United States in 1909 with over 1300 members worldwide and meets on a yearly basis.
The mission of IDEA is to facilitate the exchange of information among district energy professionals to promote energy efficiency and environmental quality through the advancement of district heating and cooling. Through education, technical conferences and robust peer exchange, IDEA actively lobbies to secure favourable policies, legislation and regulations for district energy worldwide.
Originally Published On: www.ameinfo.com – Original Article Here