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Commerce-focused publishers struggle to find best use for Facebook
 A lot of commerce-focused publishers have hit a wall on Facebook.

Many publishers are turning to commerce to generate revenue in a challenging ad climate. But they’re having a hard time incorporating Facebook into their plans.

That’s partly because the economics of commerce-focused posts differ from ad-supported posts. But it’s also because Facebook’s role in e-commerce is still evolving, and that uncertainty is hampering the growth of publishers’ affiliate commerce efforts.

“Social is a black hole for us,” said one executive at a commerce-focused publisher.

E-commerce sales have tripled over the past 10 years, to account for $105 billion in the second quarter and 9 percent of the country’s total retail sales, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

And as e-commerce climbs, Facebook has tried a number of approaches to get involved. It launched its first marketplace in 2007, abandoning it two years later. It added a kind of storefront, Facebook Shop, in 2015 and a new Facebook Marketplace last year. It recently introduced a number of shoppable ad formats, including Canvas and Carousel. While most of these tools are aimed at retailers and marketers, a handful of publishers have experimented with Facebook Shop.

But the news feed, the tool most publishers rely on for Facebook audience growth, is a poor fit for commerce-focused content. Because the feed is algorithmically driven, the content people see can be hours, sometimes even days old. That makes the feed ill-suited to distribute timely deals.

Deal-focused publishers have found workarounds. For example, Gizmodo Media Group, which organizes its commerce efforts around a brand called Kinja Deals, recently launched a Kinja Deals Facebook Messenger bot that sends offers directly to readers via mobile push notifications.

Beyond the time-sensitive issue, the feed isn’t the best place to reach people who are in a shopping mood. “The intent of the [Facebook] user is so low,” another commerce-focused publisher executive said. “Performance marketing is terrible.”

In addition, two publisher products that Facebook is pushing, Instant Articles and video, fit uncomfortably into commerce strategies, despite publishers’ efforts to use them. “Facebook has been very encouraging of [us] to do video,” said another commerce-focused executive. “But video with product recommendations don’t go hand in hand. There’s not a lot of great video to be done around commerce.”

There’s also the question of where commerce content is subject to the Federal Trade Commission’s regulations that require advertising content shared to a social platform to be disclosed.

In most cases, commerce-focused content isn’t positioned as advertising, but the lack of clarity around the issue worries publishers. “I think they don’t know exactly how to play in this space because the rules haven’t been clearly defined,” a third executive said. “We don’t know how to manage the Facebook handshake when it comes to commerce content. I think platforms are reluctant to draw too much attention to this.”

But if Facebook isn’t driving satisfactory conversions for some publishers, others see it as a way to access data about readers’ intent, which can be monetized. “Commerce-focused content is the same [as regular content],” said Troy Young, global president of Hearst Digital Media. “The difference is that it creates new opportunities to gather data for publishers to market products for advertisers. … Publishers that have the ability to tie data around content, products and individuals will have a competitive advantage in the future.”

There also are practical hurdles to selling on Facebook. Being able to target a post about a gray T-shirt at the right person on Facebook is one thing. But a retailer’s fantasy — having that reader see the post, decide she would rather buy that shirt in blue and in two different sizes and be able to act on that impulse, all inside Facebook — is a ways away. “There are technological challenges to tying it all together,” said Rich Fulop, CEO of the linens brand Brooklinen. “I don’t think we’re there at all.”

And until it can deliver something along those lines, Facebook may feel it’s in its best interests to wait. “Consumers expect the kind of service they’re going to get from Amazon,” said Susan Bidel, a senior analyst at Forrester. “I cannot imagine any of the other platforms coming out of the gate with that level of sophistication and service [right now]. They’re probably smart not to try it until they can do it in a competitive way.”

Output: Social media giant Facebook can't compete with online retail behemoth Amazon when it comes to e-commerce, according to industry insiders. Many said the news feed is "ill-suited" to promoting time-sensitive deals, while others said video, which is hugely popular on the site, doesn't dovetail with most e-commerce strategies. Facebook's previous attempts to enter the e-commerce market, Shop and Marketplace, both failed, and Susan Bidel, a senior analyst at Forrester suggests the site is still a long way from being able to compete with Amazon's seamless and sophisticated shopping experience.


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Fintechs protest against proposed EU 'screen scraping' ban
 A large group of over 70 European fintech companies are warning that new EU rules on payments processing could unfairly pit them against large banks and decimate the industry if they are passed into law.

The rules are part of the European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD) and would ban the practice of “screen scraping,” a common practice used by fintech companies to “scrape” display data from one application (like an online banking service) and display it on their own.

Usually, fintech startups scrape data by logging into banking applications on behalf of their customers with sensitive data like passwords and PIN codes.

In their manifesto, the 71 fintech firms argue that the ban on scraping is unreasonable and a backdoor method for traditional banks to claw back control as the Fintech revolution threatens to upend their business models.

However, banks are arguing that screen scraping is too dangerous and that customer data should only be accessible through bank-provided application programming interfaces (APIs) in the interest of customer security.

“The customer is in control of what can and cannot be shared with a third party, as the API is consent and permission-driven. Alternative technologies for sharing data exist, but are less robust and less secure than APIs,” said David Song, an EU affairs expert at UK Finance, a representation of over 300 firms providing banking, payments, and financial services in the United Kingdom.

Fintech companies, for their part, say that banks have an incentive to build semi-functional APIs that would tarnish fintech upstarts’ own quality of service and scare customers away from using their products, which at times compete directly with the services that banks offer to their clients.

“If we’re forced to use an API that doesn’t provide a good service, it will kill our business. We’ll have to use a low-quality interface that won’t meet our service needs and will drive customers away,” said Joan Burkovic of Bankin, a French fintech startup that helps customers manage their money and finances via an app that links to their existing bank accounts.

They also argue that a fallback option to screen scraping should necessarily be kept open in case a bank’s API fails.

“Without the fallback option, our business is effectively in the hands of banks. They’ll have full control over all the information they give to us and can even impose restrictions on how they send it. That goes entirely against the spirit of EU rules that guarantee technological neutrality for payments,” said Arturo González Mac Dowell, President & CEO of EuroBits, a payments aggregator headquartered in Spain.

Revised payment services directive

The European Union’s Payment Services Directive (PSD), originally passed in 2007, built a single market for cashless payments in Europe, making cross-border payments as easy and efficient for European consumers and businesses as domestic transfers.

It was revised in 2015 by the European Commission in part to promote more competition and digital innovation within the banking and payments sector.

Most importantly, the revised PSD (also known as PSD2) mandated that banks loosen their grip over customer account data and allow third parties to be able to access it with customers’ permission.

It is no secret that this will present a challenge to retail banks, who will lose their exclusive hold over customer data and be forced to innovate in both payments processing and customer data analytics, where many of their upstart competitors already have a significant lead.

“This presents banks with a challenge. At best, PSD2 puts at risk an important income stream for banks and at worst will relegate them to the status of a utility, acting as simple data holder,” said Jacqui Hatfield, former partner at the law firm Reed Smith, in an editorial for Banking Tech.

However, as is common practice in European financial regulation, a regulatory agency under the Commission’s authority was given the right to draft technical guidelines (such as the rules on screen scraping) that would come into effect after the general framework of the PSD2 was finalized and agreed among lawmakers.

The controversial ban on screen scraping was first tabled by the European Banking Authority, a London-based agency of the European Commission which has regulatory oversight over European banks, in February.

“The EBA is of the view that accessing accounts through screen scraping will no longer be allowed on the basis of a number of provisions under PSD2, especially the requirements on secure communication and on restrictions on in accessing data and information from accounts and transactions,” the agency said in its February proposal.

Banks agree.

“API-based solutions gain the benefits of device-based multi-factor authentication that is both safer and easy for consumers to use than typing codes into a form. Breach after breach has made clear that there is no such things as a ‘secure’ or ‘strong’ way to use passwords”, said the FIDO Alliance, an industry consortium of banks and payment services providers like Visa and MasterCard, in an open letter to EU lawmakers at the end of August.

The European Commission, which has final say over the proposed draft rules, has publicly disagreed with the EBA’s position and swooped in from above this summer to propose amendments to the guidelines, allowing for a “fall back” to screen scraping if banks’ APIs failed to provide fintech companies with reliable account data.

But in any case, the final rules will have to be vetted by both the European Parliament and finance ministers in the European Council, who have the right to veto them. It is expected by some that Council representatives from countries without a substantial fintech industry may push for a compromise between the Commission and EBA versions.

Why it matters for fintech startups

PSD2 falls into line with the Juncker Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy from 2014, in which it promised to break down barriers in the provision and sale of digital services and to ensure the free movement of data between consumers and companies in Europe.

The rules on digital payments are also envisaged to help break Europe’s longstanding dependency on bank finance. Many see the over-dominance of banks as an endemic problem to the growth of European capital markets and an important cause of the sovereign debt crises of 2010-2015.

However, the standoff on screen scraping suggests to some that large banks can still throw their weight around in lobbying EU laws aimed at increasing competition in financial services.

“The European Banking Authority has been behaving more like the European Banking Association on PSD2. It’s incredible that they haven’t met with any fintech companies at all to discuss their needs but are regularly taking meetings with banking associations on digital innovation,” said one fintech startup executive who declined to be named for the purposes of the article.

It has also shown that there is no single European rulebook dedicated to FinTech regulation, and is instead managed by a mix of national regulators and a constellation of institutions and agencies at the European level.

“It is striking to observe the large number of institutions currently commenting, regulating, drafting consulting, and exchanging ideas on fintech. There are already overlaps at European level, but more importantly there is already substantial regulatory divergence between EU countries,” wrote a team of three researchers from Brussels think-tank Bruegel for a discussion of EU finance ministers in Estonia this month.

However, it also pointed out that “in the European context, issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection and operational risks will be central importance for consumer acceptance.”

Still, the outstanding question is whether banks’ privacy concerns in the PSD2 are merely a Trojan horse to torpedo a nascent FinTech industry in Europe and to cling to their waning hold over customer account data.

“The bottom line is this: the Payment Services Directive 2 was designed in order to increase competition in the sphere of payments. Putting a ban screen scraping would undermine that principle”, said Nick Wallace of the Centre for Data Innovation.

The first parts of the PSD2 will come into force in all 28 Member States and the European Economic Area in January 2018. The Commission is expected to present its finalized set of rules on screen scraping in October or November, which will come into force 18 months after they are adopted by EU institutions.

Featured image credit: Didier Weemaels on Unsplash

Output: Seventy-one European fintech firms have warned their industry could be severely damaged if the European Banking Authority's proposed ban on "screen scraping" is approved. The practice, in which fintech firms access consenting customer data by logging into banking applications, was legitimised by the European Union’s revised Payment Services Directive, which required banks to ease their grip on customer data and open it up to third parties. Banks argue the move relegated them to being "simple data holders" and that screen scraping is insecure. A final decision on screen scraping is expected in October or November.


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Scottish Power pushes for more support for onshore wind farms
 ScottishPower has called for political support to develop more onshore wind farms after hitting a record high of power from the sector.

After the completion of a £650m infrastructure project, Scottish Power Renewables has passed the 2000 megawatt (MW) UK milestone.

The company has now called for politicians and regulators to back the development of the industry in Scotland in order to keep up with an anticipated increase in demand.

Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power Renewables, said: "It's now cheaper, easier and faster to build onshore wind.

"In a little over 18 months we have built over 470 megawatts of onshore wind, delivering enough power for more than 280,000 homes and with it significant environmental and financial benefits for the UK.

"If the UK Government is serious about reducing carbon emissions and having enough clean power to support the huge expected growth in electric vehicles, then more onshore wind is essential."

He added: "One new onshore wind turbine could power around 7000 electric vehicles but we need to act now to meet growing demand."

Analysis from the firm shows 66% of investment in onshore wind has been spent in the UK and more than three-quarters of the total UK investment has been spent in Scotland.

Scottish Government minister for business, innovation and energy Paul Wheelhouse said: "Investing in renewables is key to Scotland's transition to a low carbon future.

"It has not only brought jobs to our communities, and boosted our economy, but it has contributed to the progress of Scotland's world leading climate change targets."

A spokesman for the UK's department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) said: "The UK is a global leader in tackling climate change and the UK Government's latest auction for renewable technologies secured projects set to deliver over three gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 3.6 million homes.

"We're committed to supporting the development of onshore wind projects in the remote islands of Scotland and will set out our plans shortly.

"And by setting long-term targets, like the one to end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars by 2040, we can ensure the grid is ready for the mass transition to cleaner technologies."

Output: Scottish Power Renewables has called on the UK government to back further development of onshore wind farms in Scotland. The company has completed a £650m ($875m) infrastructure project and seeks increased support from regulators and politicians to further develop the industry and keep pace with increasing demand. "It's now cheaper, easier and faster to build onshore wind," commented Keith Anderson, the CEO of Scottish Power Renewables. "If the UK government is serious about reducing carbon emissions and having enough clean power to support the huge expected growth in electric vehicles, then more onshore wind is essential."


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YouTube tries to tap TV budgets with brand-integration opportunities
 YouTube is hoping to pull from TV ad budgets by offering advertisers sponsorship and custom brand-integration opportunities for its growing slate of free-to-watch video series.

During its Brandcast event in May for advertisers, YouTube announced plans to fund seven original long-form video series, which would be available for free on the platform. YouTube’s budget for these shows is roughly between $500,000 and $1 million per episode, according to two sources. This puts YouTube on par with cable budgets, but not “premium” cable fare such as scripted shows on HBO and AMC.

Since it announced the shows, YouTube has been busy selling advertisers on sponsorships and brand integrations for the shows. This week, it rolled out “Ellen’s Show Me More Show,” which goes behind the scenes at Ellen DeGeneres’ daily talk show. L.L. Bean and STX Entertainment are the U.S. sponsors for “Ellen’s Show Me More Show,” which will run for the next 14 weeks, with Hyundai signed on as a sponsor for “Ellen’s Show” in Australia.

Previously announced advertisers for YouTube’s ad-supported originals include Johnson & Johnson, which will be the exclusive sponsor for “Best.Cover.Ever,” a singing-competition series from Ryan Seacrest premiering later this fall; while Ulta Beauty is exclusively sponsoring singer Demi Lovato’s “Simply Complicated,” also premiering later in the fall.

Advertising against YouTube’s ad-supported originals does not come cheap. According to one media buyer pitched by YouTube, ad packages for “Ellen’s Show Me More Show” ranged from roughly $500,000 as an entry point to $1.5 million for a “fuller buy.” Another source said ad packages for the originals could be priced even higher.

YouTube declined to comment on pricing.

“With more and more new series showing up ad free on subscription services and premium cable channels — just look at the recent Emmy winners — we’ve seen a real hunger from brands interested in supporting content in new and exciting ways, which is why we’ve decided to partner with them to revert this trend,” said John Nicoletti, managing director of agency development for Google.

YouTube’s pitch to advertisers includes access to video inventory running alongside the shows as well as different in-show integrations that can be customized based on show format. This includes custom segments within shows, branded set pieces and other similar opportunities, YouTube said. YouTube also offered advertisers a minimum “share of voice” across show inventory, which was done since it’s difficult to guarantee minimum impressions for this new programming, one ad buyer said.

YouTube’s ad-supported originals can be seen as an expansion of the company’s ongoing efforts to pull in more TV ad dollars. YouTube’s head of original content Susanne Daniels, a TV veteran, basically expressed as much at Cannes Lions earlier this summer.

“This is Google’s attempt to be more Hulu-like, but we aren’t talking about 30 minutes to an hour of scripted programming; these very much feel like YouTube-ish shows but with top-tier talent,” said one media buyer pitched by YouTube, speaking under the condition of anonymity. “There are degrees of premiumness, and you have to take that into account.”

Google Preferred, YouTube’s ad program that opens top YouTube channels to advertisers, is the company’s other big effort to chase TV ad dollars. Since it launched three years ago, the program has seen 30 percent more U.S. advertisers year over year buying Google Preferred inventory. The program is now available in 20 markets.

“The integration opportunities these ad-supported shows provide along with the scale of Google Preferred lineups are a powerful combination that marketers are finding very attractive,” said Nicoletti.

Ad buyers estimate there are about 8,000 channels in Google Preferred, which can make the program tricky to navigate — and not every channel carries the type of professionally produced videos that advertisers are comfortable with. In this context, creating original shows that meet a certain standard of quality makes sense for YouTube.

“There is the reassurance that this is coming from top talent and something that YouTube is personally investing in,” said Marianne Rush, associate media director at GSD&M. “It gives you a safeguard versus general [user-generated content] and cheap influencer content on YouTube.”

“It’s definitely a benefit,” said another ad buyer, who also prefers anonymity. “They’re not creating this content for fun; they’re creating it to put advertising against. These shows are specifically being developed to sell.”

But that doesn’t mean advertisers won’t make the buy — and pull in dollars from TV budgets.

“There’s no question that people are spending time watching videos — whether it’s Ellen or Demi Lovato — on YouTube,” said Sarah Baehr, evp and managing partner of digital investment at Horizon Media. “Depending on who you want to reach, as an advertiser, you need to make a decision on whether you can find those eyeballs somewhere else. In that sense, YouTube, as a part of the overall video mix, can pull some TV ad dollars.”

Image via YouTube

Output: YouTube is selling advertisers sponsorship and brand-integration opportunities for its growing roster of free-to-watch video series. The move comes as part of YouTube’s expansion of the company’s ongoing efforts to tap marketing budgets previously reserved for traditional TV advertising. The company has announced plans to fund seven more original video series with budgets for these shows ranging from between $500,000 to $1m per episode. Advertising however does not come cheap, with packages for the Ellen DeGeneres series “Ellen’s Show Me More Show” for example ranging from roughly $500,000 to $1.5m.


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Uber CEO apologises and promises change after London ban
 Uber’s chief executive has apologised for the taxi app’s mistakes in London and promised to change as the company fights a decision by the city not to renew its licence.

The firm is battling to keep operating in the capital after Transport for London decided not to renew its licence to operate. Uber’s London licence expires on 30 September, although it will continue to run taxis while it pursues a legal appeal process that could last a year.

TfL said last week Uber was not a “fit and proper” private car-hire operator and cited four areas of concern, including its approach to reporting criminal offences and carrying out background checks on drivers. But sources close to TfL indicated that a change of conduct from the taxi firm, the culture of which is being reformed by its new chief executive, could leave the door open to a fresh licence application.

Dara Khosrowshahi, who succeeded Uber founder Travis Kalanick as CEO a month ago, wrote in an open letter: “While Uber has revolutionised the way people move in cities around the world, it’s equally true that we’ve got things wrong along the way. On behalf of everyone at Uber globally, I apologise for the mistakes we’ve made.

“We will appeal [against] the decision on behalf of millions of Londoners, but we do so with the knowledge that we must also change.”

Sadiq Khan, the London mayor and chair of TfL, said he welcomed Khosrowshahi’s apology. “Obviously I am pleased that he has acknowledged the issues that Uber faces in London,” Khan said. “Even though there is a legal process in place, I have asked TfL to make themselves available to meet with him.”

However, another Uber executive told the BBC on Monday he company did not understand the concerns of London’s transport regulator.

Fred Jones, an executive at Uber’s UK operation, said: “Sitting down with TfL representatives as soon as possible would be the most helpful thing to really understand their concerns, to work out what they are. It is just not clear to us what those concerns are.”

When asked why Uber does not report criminal offences directly to the police and instead notifies TfL, which lengthens the investigative process, Jones said: “We follow the rules.”

Referring to one specific incident involving an Uber driver who sexually assaulted a passenger, he said: “We hold our hands up, we made a mistake. In that incident we just didn’t realise when that passenger wrote in how serious it was ... We apologise to everyone involved.”

The Uber driver involved stayed on the company’s books and went on to commit another, more serious, attack.

Jones defended Uber’s usual practice of notifying TfL of criminal offences. “As soon as we receive a serious complaint or we are alerted of it, we restrict the access to the app and immediately investigate and that would involve notifying TfL.”

He added that Uber had set up a working group. “This is absolutely something we will work on with the police. This is absolutely an area where we want to go further.”

Khan said Uber had brought “unfair pressure” on TfL, employing an “army” of PR experts and lawyers.

The mayor said: “I want companies that abide by the rules, I want companies that innovate, harbour new technologies, I want disruptive technology coming to London but you’ve got to play by the rules.”

In a separate dispute, Uber will on Wednesday challenge a tribunal ruling over the employment status of its drivers, which lawyers say is also a public safety issue. Uber is attempting to overturn a landmark ruling that its drivers are workers, with rights to paid holiday and the minimum wage.

Lawyers representing the original claimants, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, said Uber was deliberately “kicking the can down the road” and had so far ignored the ruling from October last year. Paul Jennings, of Bates Wells Braithwate, said: “At the heart of this is safety. Imagine if it was bus or train drivers who couldn’t take a paid holiday. Given the numbers involved and the nature of this work, there is a real risk.”

Output: Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, has apologised for the firm’s mistakes in its London operation and pledged to implement changes. The comments, made in an open letter, come in response to Friday’s decision by Transport for London (TfL) not to renew Uber’s licence to operate in the city after it expires on 30 September. TfL claimed that Uber was not “a fit and proper” operator and cited concerns over issues including the company’s reporting of criminal offences. Uber, which will appeal TfL’s decision, has set up a working group on this issue.


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Michelin's next-gen wheel concept uses biomaterials
 They’re completely airless, last virtually forever, and could be the perfect tire for our autonomous future. Michelin, the 128-year-old tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand, France, recently unveiled a 3D-printed tire concept that it says could be the ideal ride for self-driving cars. It just needs to figure out how to actually manufacture them first.

Dubbed “Vision,” these spidery, psychedelic-looking sponges are printed from bio-sourced and biodegradable materials, including natural rubber, bamboo, paper, tin cans, wood, electronic and plastic waste, hay, tire chips, used metals, cloth, cardboard, molasses, and orange zest.

“replace a tire-and-wheel-combination with a unique structure”

While it may sound like Michelin is rooting through your compost pile to come up with its futuristic concept, there’s more to it than that. These tires would be embedded with RFID sensors to collect data and predict performance and function of the vehicle. And they will be adaptive to different conditions. Heading to the mountains for some skiing? Drive through a Michelin printing station and get your tires retrofitted for snowy terrain.

“This concept vision is a dream for an ideal solution for the long-term,” said Terry Gettys, Michelin’s executive VP for research and development. “We’re confident you can replace a tire-and-wheel-combination with a unique structure, carry the load, provide good comfort and noise, and we’re very encouraged that can be the solution of the future.”

If cars become fully autonomous, then the traditional design language that has held up for decades goes out the window. Engineers and automakers are already beginning to rethink the vehicle’s interior, removing steering wheels, adding bookshelves, and positioning car seats to face one another. Rather than be left behind, Michelin is contributing to this effort through its reinvention of its tires, both in form and function.

Michelin

Michelin

“As vehicles become more automated, the requirements for handling and driving pleasure are greatly diminished,” Gettys said. “In fact the passengers when they turn over the driving to the car, they don’t even care about the handling feel. And as such, there’s going to be a huge shift in customer expectations toward comfort and noise.”

He continued, “They’ll want to enter the vehicle like a cocoon and have a very pleasurable experience getting to their destination, but that pleasure coming from using their telephone, their PC, discussing, and being totally oblivious to the distractions outside.”

“totally oblivious to the distractions outside”

The concept of “air-free” tires isn’t new. Bridgestone has been playing around with the idea since 2013, when it unveiled its first air-free concept for tiny, smart-car sized vehicles. It was a bid to reduce the need for drivers to pull to the side of the road to fix flat tires, as well as reduce CO2 emissions and create a more sustainable drive. Recently, it began testing airless bicycle tires.

The Vision tire first debuted at the company’s Movin’ On conference in Montreal earlier this year. Michelin then brought samples of the 3D-printed tire to New York City in early August for more exposure. But a brief trip through the 128-year-old company’s history reveals that this isn’t Michelin’s first rimless, airless tire to be released. The Tweel, an airless tire concept that emerged over a decade ago, is currently in use in small-frame, low-speed vehicles and appliances like golf carts and lawn mowers.

The limited application of the Tweel hints at the challenges Michelin will face in mass producing its 3D-printed concept. “It’s really not an existing product,” Gettys said. “We don’t have all the materials to make this work.”

Michelin

So what’s missing? Michelin already manufactures tires with embedded RFID sensors for groups like the Porsche Club and truckers, allowing for the monitoring of things like temperature and pressure. So connected tires won’t be too difficult, Gettys said. The long-term challenges relates to printing the entire material structure from biodegradable materials like sugar stalks and orange zest. That will require much further research, he admits. But Michelin is working with a number of external partners and predicts being able to entire into production by 2023.

It’s admirable pursuit, and a sustainable one too. Currently, over 70 percent of tires produced globally are made from non-biodegradable materials. (Just think of the eternal burning tire pile in The Simpsons.) Natural rubber is replenishable, but most of the materials are petroleum-based. Its taken researchers 10 years to produce biosourced synthetic elastomers. “It may take the same amount of time” to make all of the other materials that comprise automobile tires, Gettys said.

Output: French tyre manufacturer Michelin is working on a 3D-printed concept that replaces the traditional tyre and wheel combination with an airless prototype called "Vision", created using biodegradable materials such as food waste and bamboo. According to Terry Gettys, Michelin’s head of research and development, the tyres could be retrofitted for changing weather conditions, while the advent of self-driving cars would eliminate the need for handling feel, enabling developers to focus on getting the prototype to deliver a smooth, comfortable ride. Gettys said more research is needed before the new tyre could go into commercial production.


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Company behind Oyster working on facial recognition ticket system
 Oli Scarff/Getty Images

At the train station of the future, your face could be your ticket and gates could be invisible.

Cubic Transportation Systems, the US company behind London’s Oyster card technology, is working on new ticketing systems that use facial recognition, palm vein scanning and object tracking in a bid to cut down queues.

“The ridership on public transportation is due to grow,” says Dave Roat, strategy manager at Cubic. “How do we deal with the growth in capacity and help enable passenger flow through stations?”

Read more: London Tube platforms are being painted green to cut congestion

One of the problems Cubic is trying to solve is the bottleneck that occurs at ticket gates when everyone rushes to dig out their ticket or pass. To avoid this crush, Cubic suggests removing the gates completely. Instead, its prototype system uses an object tracking system to track passengers as they walk through.

The company has demonstrated a prototype of its “FasTrak” gateless gate system at its London-based innovation centre. Here’s how it works. First, the traveller presents their ticket at a next-generation validator. As with existing machines, this validator accepts Oyster cards and contactless cards, but it also works with some alternative payment methods: Bluetooth LTE (which could identify passengers by their phone as they pass through, without them needing to hold it on the scanner), palm vein scan and facial recognition.

Output: US firm Cubic Transportation Systems is working on a ticketing system that uses palm vein identification and facial recognition technology to improve the flow in public transport hubs. Cubic, the company behind London's Oyster card, said the prototype registers passengers' palms or faces in place of issuing a ticket. They would be re-scanned on exiting and checked against the system's registry. It could also be used to spot fare-dodgers, with non-paying people triggering an alert. While it aims to test the gate-less tracking system at a London station within the year, Cubic admitted the facial recognition technology wasn't yet ready.


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Scotland’s climate change plan criticised by official body
 Scotland’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions into the 2030s will need to bring forward firmer policies in transport, heating and other sectors if it is to remain world-leading, the Committee on Climate Change says in its latest publication: Reducing emissions in Scotland – 2017 progress report

To date, Scotland has made good progress in reducing its emissions and is performing well compared to other parts of the UK. Scotland’s emissions fell 3% between 2014 and 2015 to 38% below 1990 levels. This is compared to a reduction of 35% since 1990 for the UK as a whole in 2015.

The Scottish Government’s draft Climate Change Plan sets out policies and proposals to reduce emissions into the 2030s in order to meet Scotland’s legislated carbon targets. It also seeks to lay the foundations for deeper emissions cuts beyond 2030. The final plan, due in February 2018, will need to set out firmer policies to meet these targets.

Action taken now will also need to pave the way to meet Scotland’s higher ambition to reduce its emissions by 90% in 2050 on 1990 levels (previously set at a minimum reduction of 80%). This is a suitable contribution to global efforts to tackle climate change as required by the Paris Agreement.

The Committee’s report also finds that:

Scotland met its emissions target in 2015 . ‘Actual’ (physical) emissions, including international aviation and shipping, fell 3% between 2014-15. Progress was largely driven by action to reduce emissions in the electricity sector. Scotland also hit its ‘net’ emissions target, achieving a 41% emissions reduction on 1990 levels. An interim target of at least a 42% reduction in net emissions by 2020 is well within reach.

. ‘Actual’ (physical) emissions, including international aviation and shipping, fell 3% between 2014-15. Progress was largely driven by action to reduce emissions in the electricity sector. Scotland also hit its ‘net’ emissions target, achieving a 41% emissions reduction on 1990 levels. An interim target of at least a 42% reduction in net emissions by 2020 is well within reach. More effort is needed to reduce emissions from other sectors of the Scottish economy , alongside the good progress made in electricity. Emissions from agriculture, transport and non-residential buildings have not fallen in recent years. Scotland’s ambitious emissions targets will require broader, economy-wide progress in future years.

, alongside the good progress made in electricity. Emissions from agriculture, transport and non-residential buildings have not fallen in recent years. Scotland’s ambitious emissions targets will require broader, economy-wide progress in future years. The balance of effort in the draft Climate Change Plan between the transport and buildings sectors is unrealistic. However, the recent Programme for Government announcement indicates stronger action to reduce emissions from the transport sector. At this higher level, transport emissions would be commensurate with ambitious Scottish emissions targets. This could allow for less reliance to 2032 on the rapid deployment of low-carbon heating in buildings. While ambitious deployment of low-carbon heat is essential, it is unlikely to be feasible at the rate or level envisaged in the draft plan.

However, the recent Programme for Government announcement indicates stronger action to reduce emissions from the transport sector. At this higher level, transport emissions would be commensurate with ambitious Scottish emissions targets. This could allow for less reliance to 2032 on the rapid deployment of low-carbon heating in buildings. While ambitious deployment of low-carbon heat is essential, it is unlikely to be feasible at the rate or level envisaged in the draft plan. The draft Climate Change Plan contains limited new policy to deliver emissions reductions to 2032 beyond existing commitments. Without effective new policies, progress seen in recent years is unlikely to continue into the 2020s. The credibility of the proposed 90% emissions target for 2050 will be compromised if Scotland fails to lay the groundwork over the period to 2030.

Plans to further decarbonise the electricity sector are suitably ambitious and align with the Committee’s analysis. The draft plan’s commitment to the deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology is also welcome as are plans to increase tree planting to 15,000 hectares per year by the mid-2020s.

Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben, said: “Scotland’s level of ambition in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change is amongst the highest in the world. Our report shows that Scotland continues to lead the UK in this area, as Scotland’s emissions continue to fall year on year.

“The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan will deliver the next chapter of emissions reductions into the 2030s and beyond. It’s therefore essential that further work is done to ramp up emissions reductions right across the Scottish economy and think through how to reduce emissions from heating Scotland’s buildings and from transport, amongst other areas. The process of review and revision should enable this to happen in time for the adoption of the final Climate Change Plan early next year.”

Notes to editors

Emissions data for Scotland and the devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland are produced with a significant delay compared to the UK as a whole. The Committee’s report therefore focuses on progress to 2015, while noting any significant subsequent developments that are not yet reflected in the emissions data. The difference between ‘net’ and ‘actual’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under the existing Climate Change Scotland (2009) Act, Scottish GHG emissions are measured on a ‘net’ basis. The Net Scottish Emissions Account (NSEA) is calculated as the sum of: a) Non-traded emissions. Actual Scottish emissions in sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), such as buildings, transport and agriculture (around 64% of total Scottish emissions); plus b) Traded sector allocation. Scotland’s share of the EU ETS cap for sectors that are covered by the trading scheme, such as electricity generation and heavy industry. Actual emissions are the physical greenhouse gas emissions emitted across all sectors including: Power, Buildings, Industry, Transport, Agriculture, Waste and F-gases, Aviation and Shipping, and Land Use, Land-Use change and Forestry (LULUCF). A detailed explanation is provided in the Committee’s March 2017 report: Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill. The Scottish Government intends to pass new climate change legislation by early 2019, to replace the current Climate Change Scotland (2009) Act. In particular, the Scottish Government proposes to adopt a more ambitious target for emissions reductions by 2050 of at least 90% by 2050 (on 1990 levels), from an existing target of at least 80% by 2050 (on 1990 levels). The Committee provided advice on the design and levels of these targets in March 2017 in our report: Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill. The Scottish Government’s draft Climate Change Plan was published in January 2017. It sets out policies and proposals for meeting Scotland’s legislated emissions reduction targets as required under the Climate Change Scotland (2009) Act. The Scottish Government is conducting a public consultation on the draft plan (until 22 September). Low-carbon heat: The draft Climate Change Plan’s assumed contribution to emissions reductions from uptake of low-carbon heat (80% of heating in buildings to be low-carbon by 2032) is very unlikely to be feasible and calls into question the integrity of the overall strategy, as well as risking missing emissions reduction targets in 2032. Securing lower levels of low-carbon heat roll-out (40%) in the CCC’s High Ambition Scenario requires immediate action, rather than waiting for deployment in 2025 as in the draft plan. The CCC recommends the final version of the plan relies on low-carbon sources providing no more than 50% of heat by 2032. These will need to be done in tune with further improvements in energy efficiency. Ambition on electric vehicles. The draft Climate Change Plan envisages ultra-low-emission vehicle (ULEV, e.g. electric vehicle) reaching 40% of new car and van sales by 2032, which would not prepare sufficiently to achieve the deep decarbonisation required by 2050 given the time it takes to turn over the vehicle stock. The recent Programme for Government announcement that petrol and diesel vehicle sales will be phased out by 2032 is a far stronger commitment, and is commensurate with the challenge set by Scotland’s ambition on climate change. The final version of the plan will need to set out the policies that will build the market for ULEVs over the next 15 years to the point that sales of petrol and diesel vehicles can be phased out.

Topics

Output: Scotland’s draft plan on climate change has been criticised by the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The body claimed that the plan placed too much emphasis on the quick implementation of reduced-carbon heating, and disregarded broader topics, including vehicular emissions. However, the CCC also remarked that the Scottish government was leading the UK in emissions reductions. Scotland achieved its 2015 emissions target, and looks set to hit the interim goal of a 42% reduction by 2020. In January, Scotland set an additional target of reducing emissions by 66% by 2032.


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Addison Lee drivers not self-employed, rules UK tribunal
 An employment tribunal has ruled that a group of Addison Lee drivers were workers and therefore entitled to rights such as holiday pay and the national minimum wage.

The ruling will affect thousands of drivers working for the taxi and courier company, according to the law firm representing them, Leigh Day.

The drivers brought their case to the London Central Employment Tribunal in July, supported by trade union GMB, which has supported similar claims by drivers for taxi firm Uber.

Addison Lee claimed that all of its UK drivers are self-employed, so can choose their own hours but cannot have access to traditional employment benefits that those with “worker” or “employee” employment status would receive.

GMB, however, argued that the company was “shirking its responsibilities through bogus self-employment”.

Liana Wood of the employment team at Leigh Day said: “Addison Lee advertises itself as a premium driving service and seeks to ensure that its drivers meet the high standard required for that premium service.

“However, Addison Lee drivers very often work very long hours, in excess of 60 hours a week, in order to just earn enough to cover their basic living costs. Addison Lee has sought to deny its drivers the most basic workers’ rights, including to be paid the national minimum wage and to receive paid holiday.”

She added that the judgement acknowledged the “central contribution that Addison Lee’s drivers have made to the success of the company”.

There will now be a further tribunal hearing to calculate the holiday and pay that the drivers should receive.

An Addison Lee spokesman said: “We note the tribunal’s verdict, which we will carefully review. Addison Lee is disappointed with the ruling as we have always had, and are committed to maintaining, a flexible and fair relationship which generates work for 3,800 drivers.”

Output: Addison Lee, the UK private car hire company, has lost a case in which it argued that its drivers were self-employed. The tribunal ruled that a group of drivers for the company were workers and were consequently entitled to rights including holiday pay and minimum wage. The drivers who brought the case were supported by the GMB trade union, which has backed similar claims by drivers for Uber. The ruling will apply to thousands of drivers working for the firm. A further hearing will determine the amount of holiday and pay to be awarded.


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UK antislavery agency sees caseload double
 The UK’s antislavery body has launched 185 investigations since May, nearly double its total for the whole of last year, after assuming powers that allow it to look beyond the food and farming sector.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is scrutinising the treatment of workers in carwashes, construction, textile manufacture, cleaning and warehouse operations. A number of prosecutions are already under way and the first case under its new remit is expected to come to court as early as next month.

Paul Broadbent, the chief executive of the GLAA – which changed its name from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority after extending its remit in May this year – said the group had taken on 50 more investigators, bringing the total to 125, in order to monitor more activities.

“We have got a bigger team to follow the labour exploitation trail wherever it takes us. We are determined to exploit the fact that we have got new powers to protect the good and tackle the bad,” said Broadbent, a former assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police.

Last year, the antislavery body conducted 100 investigations. Its new powers enable the GLAA to look into cases of forced labour and human trafficking many of which would previously have been passed to the police.

Broadbent’s team can also look into non-payment of the national minimum wage and breaches of employment agencies legislation, which sets basic standards on pay, working hours and the right to a written contract.

The investigations under way, he said, were “evidence led” and based on tipoffs from exploited workers, unions, concerned members of the public and businesses.

The agency, which was created in the wake of the Morecambe Bay cockle-picking tragedy, works with HMRC’s minimum wage enforcement team and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate as well as police.

It has powers to ensure that licence-holding gangmasters operate legally in terms of wages, tax and holiday pay as well as providing good-quality transport, accommodation and safety equipment. It also investigates cases of unlicensed labour in the food sector, which is a criminal offence carrying a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

The body is also considering a new licensing system for nail bars, after an investigation by the independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, found a high risk of trafficked Vietnamese migrants being employed in slavery-like conditions.

Output: The UK’s Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has launched 185 investigations since May, almost twice as many as for the whole of 2016, after its remit was expanded beyond the food and farming sectors. The body is now investigating treatment of workers in carwashes, cleaning, construction, textiles and warehouse operations. The GLAA can also examine non-payment of the national minimum wage and employment agency legislation violations and is considering a new licensing system for nail bars. The first case under the body’s new powers is expected to come to court next month.


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Just 3% of UK’s major elite is from BAME background
 Barely 3% of Britain’s most powerful and influential people are from black and minority ethnic groups, according to a broad new analysis that highlights startling inequality despite decades of legislation to address discrimination.

From a list of just over 1,000 of the UK’s top political, financial, judicial, cultural and security figures drawn up by the Guardian in partnership with Operation Black Vote and in consultation with academics, only 36 (3.4%) were from ethnic minorities (BAME). Just seven (0.7%) were BAME women.

The numbers betray a grotesque disconnect with the composition of the UK population, almost 13% of which has a minority background. In some sectors – the police, military, supreme court and security services as well as top consultancies and law firms – there were no non-white supremos at all.

Equality advocates said the new study shone a light on the glass ceilings, subtle discrimination and “affinity bias” that minorities face as a matter of course in their careers. The toll is severe, on individuals, communities, and society as a whole, they said.

“We need to ensure that every young person has a role model they can look up to,” said the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, one of the 36. “It’s so important to promote the successful figures from Britain’s BAME communities. We need to create a sense of optimism, aspiration and hope.”

Speaking at a Guardian Live event at the Labour party conference in Brighton on Sunday, Khan also identified confidence as a key factor in holding BAME people back. “Some white people feel confident about applying for jobs even if they are not fully qualified. But BAME people may not have the same confidence even though they are more qualified,” he said.

The data analysis looked at the ethnicity of more than 1,000 individuals across 39 categories covering politics and the civil service; policing, defence and the judiciary; FTSE companies and groups representing business; professional services including the heads of law, accountancy, advertising, consulting and publishing firms; arts bodies; media; trade unions; top universities; sporting bodies and NHS trusts.

The results of the exercise call into question the effectiveness of equality legislation such as the 2000 Race Relations Act and the 2010 Equality Act, which have seemingly done little to promote people of minority backgrounds into the highest positions of power.

“Pathways to power are almost non-existent if you’re black or Asian,” said Simon Woolley, director and co-founder of Operation Black Vote, which helped compile the Colour of Power data along with the recruitment consultant Green Park.

“The white club virtually locks out black talent. The lack of diversity at the top level is deeply troubling, not least because in most sectors there has been little or no progress at all.”

Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the research showed that “inequality and unfairness are still entrenched in our society”.

“Without real diversity in leadership positions we will never be truly reflective of society, particularly when it comes to public services and bodies which serve our communities. There is absolutely no reason that BAME people should not be able to reach the top of their chosen profession,” she said, calling on the government to put in place a comprehensive and coherent race strategy.

The shadow equalities minister, Dawn Butler, said black people were losing out because contacts and networks trumped talent. “If people do not fulfil their potential in all walks of society then we all lose out: the country loses out, that person loses out, that business loses out.

“As a black woman nothing surprises me when it comes to representation of both people of colour and women … It’s really not because of lack of talent. That’s the disappointing thing.”

02:25 The colour of power: why is the British establishment so white? – video

The latest data amplifies a report published earlier this year by the businesswoman Ruby McGregor-Smith, which found that while 14% of the working age population were from a BAME background, they made up only 10% of the workforce and held only 6% of top management positions.

There has been some progress further down the ranks since the 2000 Race Relations Act which, among other things, placed a duty on public bodies to promote racial equality.

BAME representation in the civil service now stands at 11.6%, double the 2000 figure. And 7% of court judges in England and Wales are from minorities, a significant improvement on 2000. The proportion of BAME police officers rose from 2.2% in 2000 to 6.3% in 2017 although diversity among the most senior ranks remains low.

There have also been some advances in politics: 8% of MPs after the 2017 general election are of minority ethnic backgrounds, the highest ever proportion, while the current cabinet has two BAME members compared to the all-white 2001 cabinet under Tony Blair.

But despite this progress, various reports have concluded that inequality remains deep-rooted in society. A recent TUC survey found that more than a third of BAME workers reported bullying, abuse or experience of racial discrimination in the workplace while the recently published Lammy review warned of racial bias in the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

A University of Bath project reported problems of ethnic diversity in higher education while a 2016 report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that “entrenched and far-reaching race inequality” remains present in many areas of society.

03:42 London mayor Sadiq Khan explains the importance of laws to improve diversity – video

Dr David Owen of the Warwick Institute for Employment Research in Warwick University, whose research has looked at the changing ethnic makeup of the population and the labour force, said evidence showed workplace barriers were manifold.

“The evidence from analysis of data over many years is that minority ethnic groups are less well represented in higher status occupations than white people,” he said.

He said the issue of diversity at the highest levels mattered for a number of reasons, most importantly that people of BAME backgrounds should feel they are able to fulfil their potential without “glass ceilings or other barriers to their ambition”. He added that it was also an advantage to organisations to best “understand the population and the society they are serving”.

While the project concentrated on BAME diversity, it also showed up a startling gap in gender representation. Women account for less than a quarter of the names on the list (23.6%). Among FTSE 100 chief executives, there are more men called David than women.

Have your opportunities for career advancement been restricted because of your ethnicity? Please share your thoughts with us using the form below:

Output: Just 3.4% of the UK’s most powerful and influential people are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, according to a study by The Guardian in collaboration with academics and Operation Black Vote. The research analysed over 1,000 of the country’s leading figures from the cultural, financial, judicial, political and security sectors. Just 36 individuals were from BAME backgrounds and just seven, or 0.7%, were BAME women. Leading consultancies and law firms, the military, the police, and the supreme court and security services, had no non-white key leaders. Nearly 13% of the UK’s population has a minority background.


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Australia plans 'last line of defence' against blackouts
 The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has released what it calls a "last line of defence" against blackouts - a package of new rules that incorporate renewable energy sources.

The energy market regulator's chairman, John Pierce, said the latest rules were designed to address "risks to energy security created by the power system's changing generation mix" with its rising proportion of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which runs the nation's largest gas and electricity markets, is forecasting more than 19,000 MW of proposed new energy capacity for the coming years, with nearly two-thirds of that coming from wind power as costs of renewable technologies are falling.

"As the power system continues to evolve", the new rules "require networks to provide a minimum level of system strength to help keep the system stable," the AEMC's Mr Pierce said.

Output: The Australian Energy Market Commission has published regulations aimed at protecting the grid from blackouts caused by its increasing reliance on renewably energy sources. Its chairman, John Pierce, said the rules, described as the 'last line of defence', will reduce risk arising from the growing proportion of power that derives from renewable sources, such as wind and solar. The commission wants the new rules to provide the greatest stability of supply at the least cost to consumers, given renewables’ increasingly lower pricing. Electricity networks will be required to meet minimum inertia levels and make sure they can deal with periods when demand exceeds supply.


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Statoil reaches 2020 carbon emissions reduction target early
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Statoil said today that it had reached its 2020 carbon emissions reduction target already.

The Norwegian oil major said it had cut CO2 output on the Norwegian continental shelf by 1.2million tonnes a year between now and 2008.

Statoil said the same effect would be achieved by removing a quarter of private cars from Norway’s roads.

The business said it had implemented 228 energy improvement measures within the categories of flaring, production processes, gas compressors and gas turbines.

It intends to reduce its Norwegian CO2 emissions by another 2million tonnes by 2030.

Arne Sigve Nylund, Statoil’s executive vice president, development and production Norway, said: “It is essential that we take strong and effective actions to meet the challenges associated with man-made climate change and to realize the important goals set in the Paris Agreement.

“Targeted efforts are therefore under way throughout our business.

“The results show that it is possible to achieve ambitious emission reduction targets.

“Skills, technology and hard work over-time pay off, and confirm that the transformation we need must be achieved in cooperation with, not in opposition to the petroleum industry.”

Output: Oil firm Statoil claims to have slashed carbon dioxide emissions from the Norwegian continental shelf by 1.2 million tonnes per year since 2008, equivalent to removing 25% of Norway’s privately-owned cars. Statoil has put 228 discrete energy improvement measures into place, with the aim of reducing emissions even further. “The results show that it is possible to achieve ambitious emission reduction targets", said Arne Sigve Nylund, Statoil’s executive vice president of development and production.


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Male backlash against gender diversity in tech
 “It’s exhausting,” said Joelle Emerson, who runs Paradigm, a company that designs diversity strategies. “It’s created divides that I didn’t anticipate.”

One radical fringe that is growing is Mgtow, which stands for Men Going Their Own Way and pronounced MIG-tow. Mgtow aims for total male separatism, including forgoing children, avoiding marriage and limiting involvement with women. Its message boards are brimming with activity from Silicon Valley, Mr. Altizer said.

Cassie Jaye, who lives in Marin County and made a documentary about the men’s rights movement called “The Red Pill,” said that the tech world and the men’s rights community had “snowballed” together and that the rise in the number of people in Mgtow is new.

On the Mgtow message boards, members discuss work (“Ever work for a woman? Roll up your sleeves and share your horror story”), technology (“The stuff girlfriends and wives can’t stand — computers, games, consoles”) and dating (mostly best practices to avoid commitment).

“I think there are a lot of guys living this lifestyle without naming it, and then they find Mgtow,” said Ms. Jaye, who calls herself a former feminist.

Mr. Altizer leads Bay Area Fathers’ Rights, a monthly support group for men to talk about the issues they uniquely face. He became interested in the community after a divorce and said his eyes were opened to how few rights men have. As for the numbers of women in tech, the effort for parity is absurd, he said.

“I’ve been on the hiring side for years,” Mr. Altizer said, adding that he is not currently hiring people. “It would be nice to have women, but you cannot find applicants.”

Output: Women working in Silicon Valley are facing a blacklash following a series of scandals involving sexual discrimination and harassment. Men’s rights activists claim that numbers at their meetings in the sector are rising, with many identifying as “contrarians” to signal their opposition to “diversity dogma”. Those holding such views have been galvanised by the case of James Damore, an engineer fired by Google after he wrote a memo arguing that women were biologically less capable of engineering than men. Last year, two male employees of Yahoo sued the firm for gender discrimination.


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Enel hosts celebration for South African solar plant
 Some three years after expanding operations into South Africa, Italian renewable energy firm Enel Green Power (EGP) has established a significant presence locally, boasting more than 520 MW of wind and solar projects in operation, one of which was declared a National Key Point in June.

The 66 MW Tom Burke photovoltaic power (PV) plant, in Limpopo, where Enel hosted a dedication ceremony on Wednesday for one of its first large-scale solar projects, feeds 122 GWh/y into the national grid and is supplying electricity to nine villages in the Lephalale region.

“By harnessing renewable energy sources, we can improve electrification in Southern Africa and incorporate current and available technologies to bridge the gap between supply and demand for energy in a sustainable way,” said Enel country manager William Price on Wednesday.

This followed the early generation and commissioning of the plant on a 202 ha property in August 2016, adding “significant” value to the region and country, after being built by more than 400 construction workers in less than two years – a record for the company.

At its peak, Enel constructed some 1 MW a day on the project.

By June this year, Tom Burke became the first Enel South Africa facility to be declared a National Key Point by the South African Police Service and now produces an average energy output of 350 MWh/d to 360 MWh/d.

Speaking to media prior to the event, Price said Tom Burke became the setting for the company’s first use of thin-film solar technology in a large-scale project and set the precedent for Enel’s future endeavours.

Enel had first used the thin-film technology at its 10 MW Upington solar plant before pursuing its deployment in larger projects.

Tom Burke had also set the standard for the company, with its well-executed progression, best practices and approaches now being emulated at many more of Enel’s projects moving forward.

Meanwhile, Enel was working to implement several community initiative projects to leave behind a sustainable positive mark on the communities hosting the plant.

“We do not just produce energy, we change communities,” Enel sustainability head Lizeka Dlepu told delegates at the dedication ceremony.

She highlighted the company’s dedicated steering committee that was strategising with the local communities to identify shared value that addresses and aligns local social needs with the company’s business objectives.

Tom Burke has a 20-year power supply agreement with State-owned power utility Eskom, as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

EGP owns and operates five PV plants in South Africa, namely Tom Burke; the 82.5 MW Paleisheuwel project, in the Western Cape; the 10 MW Upington and 82.5 MW Adams projects, in the Northern Cape; and Pulida, an 82.5 MW plant in the Free State.

The company also operates the 88 MW Nojoli and the 111 MW Gibson Bay wind farms, in the Eastern Cape.

Output: Italian renewable energy firm Enel Green Power has held a dedication ceremony at its Tom Burke solar plant in South Africa, marking the site's designation as a National Key Point in the summer. The 66 MW facility will feed 122 GWh a year into the national grid and powers nine villages in the country's Lephalale region. Enel now has a total of 520 MW of wind and solar projects in operation in South Africa across seven sites.


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Enel begins two largest solar project operations in Brazil
 Enel subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB) has started operations for 546MW of solar PV projects in Brazil.

This includes the 254MW Ituverava plant, located in the municipality of Tabocas do Brejo Velho, in the north-eastern state of Bahia, as well as the 292MW Nova Olinda solar plant, located in the municipality of Ribeira do Piauí, in the north-eastern state of Piauí. Both are the largest PV projects in the country to date.

Enel invested roughly US$700 million in the construction of both plants mainly through its own capital. This was also supported by long-term financing provided by Banco do Nordeste for Nova Olinda. Meanwhile, Ituverava was supported by long-term financing provided by Bank of China and Santander, backed by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) and guaranteed by Enel.

The 292MW Nova Olinda contains 930,000 solar modules across 690 hectares and will be able to produce more than 600GWh per year once fully operational, enough to power the equivalent of 300,000 Brazilian households.

The 254MW Ituverava plant includes 850,000 panels over 579 hectares and once fully up and running will be able to produce over 550GWh, for the equivalent of 268,000 Brazilian households.

Both the solar parks have 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with the Brazilian Chamber of Commercialisation of Electric Energy (Câmara de Comercialização da Energia Elétrica, CCEE).

EGPB has also introduced so-called creative recycling workshops in the nearby areas for local communities to learn to manufacture furniture from materials used in the solar construction works, such as pallets. The firm is providing similar workshops for a 754MW development in Mexico, set to be the largest PV project in the Americas.

Enel now has 716MW of solar PV installed in Brazil.

Antonio Cammisecra, head of Enel Green Power: “The start of operation of Nova Olinda and Ituverava is a major milestone for our presence in Brazil since it confirms our leadership in the country’s photovoltaic market, as well as our commitment and ability to quickly and efficiently deliver the projects we are awarded. With our projects and expertise, we can boost the development of Brazil’s photovoltaic sector with the aim of further strengthening the increasingly key role that solar power is playing in the diversification of the country’s generation mix and in meeting its growing energy needs”.

Output: Italian renewable firm Enel has begun operating 546 MW of solar power projects in Brazil, following a $700m investment in the country. Developed through its local subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil, the PV projects are the largest in Brazil to date, and comprise the 245 MW Ituverava plant in the state of Bahia and the 292 MW Nova Olinda plant in Ribeira do Piauí. The new developments bring Enel's total PV capacity in Brazil to 716 MW, and the company is currently building a 754 MW solar plant in Mexico, which will be the largest PV project in the Americas.


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Pesticide safety assumptions false, claims scientist
 The assumption by regulators around the world that it is safe to use pesticides at industrial scales across landscapes is false, according to a chief scientific adviser to the UK government.

The lack of any limit on the total amount of pesticides used and the virtual absence of monitoring of their effects in the environment means it can take years for the impacts to become apparent, say Prof Ian Boyd and his colleague Alice Milner in a new article.

The damning assessment of pesticide regulations that are meant to protect the global environment follows a growing number of highly critical reports including research showing farmers could slash their pesticide use without losses and a UN report that denounced the “myth” that pesticides are necessary to feed the world.

“The current assumption underlying pesticide regulation – that chemicals that pass a battery of tests in the laboratory or in field trials are environmentally benign when they are used at industrial scales – is false,” state the scientists in their article published in the journal Science. Boyd is chief scientific adviser to the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where Milner also works on secondment, but their criticism reflects their own views.

“The effects of dosing whole landscapes with chemicals have been largely ignored by regulatory systems,” the scientists said. “This can and should be changed.” They contrast this situation with pharmaceuticals, for which there is a system of rigorous global monitoring after a drug is approved in case adverse effects emerge.

“Vigilance on the scale that is required for medicines does not exist to assess the effects of pesticides in the environment,” they said. They cite the UK as an example of one of the most developed regulatory systems: “Yet it has no systematic monitoring of pesticide residues in the environment. There is no consideration of safe pesticide limits at landscape scales.”

The scientists’ article also criticises the widespread use of pesticides as preventive treatments, rather than being used sparingly and only when needed.

Milner told the Guardian: “We want to start a discussion about how we can introduce a global monitoring programme for pesticides, similar to pharmaceuticals. It can take years to fully understand the environmental impact.”

“Any chemical you put into the environment has the potential to be widely distributed,” she said. “We’ve known this for decades, particularly through the early work in the 1960s – the Silent Spring, DDT and so on – and you can find chemicals in places that have not been treated because of the connectivity of ecosystems. There are often quite unexpected effects [and] you often don’t see them until the pesticide is used at more industrial scales.”

Matt Shardlow of the conservation group Buglife said: “Pesticides have got big on society – the thin veil of science around the approvals process has been exposed and the marketing strategies are stronger than the products they tout.

“If you think the biggest governments in the world are wrapped around the pesticide industry’s fingers, that’s nothing compared to the 35% of countries that have no regulation at all. It looks as if only an international convention can get pesticides back into a box that helps rather than harms us. It can’t come soon enough.”

The UK government has repeatedly opposed increased European restrictions on widely used insecticides that are linked to serious harm in bees, but a partial ban was backed by other nations and introduced in 2013.

However, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, said in July that changes to pesticide regulation were being considered: “Certainly, it is the case that anyone who has seen the [recent] scientific evidence must inevitably contemplate the need for further restrictions on their use.” After Brexit, he said: “Informed by rigorous scientific analysis, we can develop global gold-standard policies on pesticides and chemicals.”

Keith Tyrell, at Pesticide Action Network, said the current pesticide management system was not fit for purpose: “We don’t know how a pesticide will really impact the environment until it is too late. It can take years before enough scientific evidence is collected to persuade regulators to take action, and they will be fought every step of the way by pesticide manufacturers who make millions from these products.”

The UN report in March was severely critical of the global corporations that manufacture pesticides, accusing them of the “systematic denial of harms”, “aggressive, unethical marketing tactics” and heavy lobbying of governments which has “obstructed reforms and paralysed global pesticide restrictions”.

Sarah Mukherjee, chief executive of an industry group called the Crop Protection Association, said: “As [Boyd and Milner] themselves acknowledge, crop-protection products are a fundamental component of a sustainable, productive agricultural sector which seek to strike the right balance between protecting the environment and providing a reliable supply of safe, healthy, affordable food.

“Pesticides are amongst the most heavily regulated products in the world. It takes up to 12 years and costs over £200m to bring a new product to market. This process, involving rigorous scrutiny by independent scientific experts, ensures plant protection products are safe before they reach the market.”

Output: Global assumptions about safe pesticide use are incorrect, according to a chief scientific adviser to the UK government. An article by Professor Ian Boyd and Alice Milner argues that the lack of limits on total pesticide use, and the absence of monitoring of their environmental effects, means that the impacts of such use can take years to emerge. Boyd claims that the central assumption that chemicals that pass laboratory or field tests “are environmentally benign when they are used at industrial scales – is false”. The authors calls for the introduction of “a global monitoring programme for pesticides, similar to pharmaceuticals”.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Start-ups to receive investment by MIT incubator unveiled
 The Engine, founded last year by MIT, today announced investments in its first group of seven startups that are developing innovations poised for transformative impact on aerospace, renewable energy, synthetic biology, medicine, and other sectors.

The founding startups will be featured today at an event to celebrate the official opening of The Engine’s headquarters at 501 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, now renovated to include three floors of conference rooms, makerspaces, labs with cutting-edge equipment, computer stations, and other amenities.

The seven startups are:

Analytical Space, developing systems that provide no-delay, high-speed data from space, to address global challenges such as precision agriculture, climate monitoring, and city planning;

Baseload Renewables, developing ultra low-cost energy storage to replace fossil baseload generation with renewable energy to successfully reduce carbon on a global level;

C2Sense, building a digital olfactory sensor for industrial use cases such as food, agriculture, and worker safety, and transforming smell into real-time data that can be accessed remotely;

iSee, delivering the next generation of humanistic artificial intelligence technology for human and robotic collaborations, including autonomous vehicles;

Kytopen, accelerating the development of genetically engineered cells by developing technology that modifies microorganisms 10,000 times faster than current state-of-the-art methods;

Suono Bio, enabling ultrasonic targeted delivery of therapeutics and macromolecules across tissues without the need for reformulation or encapsulation; and

Via Separations, developing a materials technology for industrial separation processes that uses 10 times less energy than traditional methods.

Announced last October, The Engine combines funding and an open network of technical facilities to provide stable financial support and access to costly resources. It focuses on startups developing “tough” technologies — breakthrough ideas that require time to commercialize — in a range of sectors including robotics, manufacturing and materials, health, biotechnology, and energy.

“As we look at the first seven companies we have invested in, it is wonderful to see the breadth of tough-tech areas founders have leaned into,” says Katie Rae, president and CEO of The Engine. “We have been so gratified by the quality and passion of the founders that have come to us. These entrepreneurs are on a mission, and with our help they are going to change the world for the better.”

In January, MIT announced the creation of The Engine Working Groups, charged with guiding the development of Institute policies and procedures related to The Engine, and an Idea Bank for MIT community members and alumni to provide input. In February, the program secured funding and established its leadership, and in April it closed its first investment fund with more than $150 million to support the startups. Since then, additional funds have been raised, for an updated total of $200 million.

“We announced The Engine nearly a year ago with the vision of supporting innovative ventures working to address society's most important challenges,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif says. “I am thrilled that the first cohort of startups has the potential to do exactly that. I have watched The Engine's evolution with great enthusiasm and admiration, and I look forward to this exciting next step in making The Engine's bold vision a reality.”

A running start

The startups have already begun benefiting from The Engine.

Shreya Dave PhD ’16 and Brent Keller PhD ’16, co-founders of Via Separations, have drawn on the tight-knit community growing inside The Engine, where advice and feedback are just around the corner. Joined by MIT professor of materials science and engineering Jeffrey Grossman and industry expert Karen Golmer, the team has been at The Engine since July. “Instead of sending out a million emails and asking for advice, we can literally walk next door and ask advice on company or customer problems,” Dave says.

Membranes today are predominantly polymers that filter out particles from liquids; examples include removing salt during water desalination or sifting out ingredients for pharmaceuticals or foods. These membranes are low-cost and efficient, but cannot withstand high temperatures, intense cleaning, and harsh environments, so some industries turn to power-hungry thermal-separation processes. Via Separations’ graphene oxide membranes, however, are more resilient than polymers and can operate in the streams polymers cannot. According to the startup, its membrane can replace thermal separation in many industries, cutting energy use by 90 percent. The startup now has a working prototype and is in talks with potential customers.

The Engine’s patient capital has been a major help for the startup, which emerged from a project in the J-WAFS Solutions program, a commercialization grant of the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab administered in partnership with the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. “Our development timeline will take a few years, with key milestones in design scale up, manufacturing, and customer agreements. But when we do it, it is going to have huge impact. With the Engine’s community and support, we have the resources to support a stellar team,” Dave says.

Also appreciative of The Engine’s patient capital is MIT professor of mechanical engineering Cullen Buie, another first-time entrepreneur who co-founded the two-month-old Kytopen. “The Engine is betting on us. I don’t know how many venture capitalists would bet on where we are today,” Buie says. “We could have stayed in the lab a little longer, but it wouldn’t get going nearly as fast. The Engine is helping us throw some gas on the idea and accelerate what we’re doing.”

Kytopen is developing a platform to enable extremely high-throughput cell engineering. To genetically engineer organisms, scientists expose cells to an electric field, which opens pores within the cell membrane, allowing customized DNA to flow into the cell. But scientists must zap the cells one batch at a time to find the right electric field that can open the cells but not kill them, which can be a months-long process.

Buie and his Kytopen co-founder, MIT research scientist Paulo Garcia, developed a microfluidics device that shocks cells continuously. Then they integrated the device’s components into a pipette tip, meaning scores of cells can be zapped as the flow through. In one pipette channel, the startup can process the equivalent of 80 tests per minute. Systems already exist that process 96 and 384 pipette samples in parallel, which makes the process potentially 10,000 times faster than traditional methods. “We take the guts of microfluidics and put it in a pipette tip which … makes it amenable to automation and scaling,” Buie says.

Power of proximity

The Engine’s central location is also beneficial for startups such as Baseload Renewables, whose founders and employees are transitioning into the startup life from MIT and other jobs. “We’re four co-founders of this company, and two of us live within walking distance of The Engine,” says MIT professor of materials science and engineering Yet-Ming Chiang. “It makes it easy for us to meet, get early research started, and have a smooth transition from lab to commercial product.”

Baseload Renewable’s battery system is based on cheap, readily available, and energy-dense sulfur dissolved in water as the anode, with an equally low-cost cathode.

Because the components are low-cost and allow for great energy-density, the system can store electricity from renewable sources for long durations — multiple days to months — for about a fifth to a tenth the cost of traditional battery storage for the grid. Today’s traditional lithium-ion batteries cost more than $300 per kilowatt hour and may only drop to about $150 per kilowatt hour, Chiang says.

The aim is to use the system for baseload power — the minimum demand on an electrical grid over a span of time — which currently relies on systems that produce a lot of carbon emissions. “Anyone in the energy industry will recognize that turning renewable energy into baseload electricity available all day, every day, is an extremely ambitious goal,” Chiang says. “But The Engine is allowing us to get a running start at it.”

Fresher food, safer cars, better health

The other founding startups’ goals are similarly ambitious.

Analytical Space, founded by Harvard Business School graduates, aims to make downloading satellite data much faster. Every few hours, terabytes of data are collected by orbiting satellites, but downloading that data is becoming very costly and complex. The startup is building small satellite relays that use laser communication to enable continuous high-speed wireless connectivity between space and ground. The startup is now preparing to launch its first pilot on a SpaceX craft from the International Space Station later this year.

C2Sense, which emerged from work supported by the Deshpande Center, aims to bring gas sensing to the so-called internet of things by creating a “digital olfactory” platform for industrial use. The startup has developed low-cost sensors that detect and measure a range of chemical substances in food that indicate rot as well as toxic gases, to help ensure worker safety and environmental protection. In one of its first use cases, the startup’s sensing technologies could “smell” when apples were ripening by detecting tiny amounts of ethylene, a gas that promotes ripening in plants.

iSee AI is developing a missing piece of the self-driving car puzzle — the next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) driven by a common sense engine. To begin such a monumental task, the team is taking inspiration from computational cognitive science to develop a fundamentally different approach to achieve a fully autonomous driving system. By building and applying a common sense engine to this space, iSee is able to effectively model a variety of behaviors of different occurrences on the road and quickly deal with new situations.

Suono Bio’s drug delivery platform uses ultrasound waves to rapidly deliver drugs, proteins, vaccines, and other molecules directly into the gastrointestinal tract to treat inflammatory bowel disease and other disorders that are difficult to treat. When a fluid is exposed to ultrasound waves, tiny bubbles form that then implode to create microjets that penetrate and push the drugs into tissue. The drugs absorb about 22 times faster than the traditional treatment method using enemas, where drugs must be kept in the colon for eight to 12 hours.

Output: The seven start-ups set to benefit from The Engine, the incubator founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have been announced. They include Analytical Space, which is developing systems providing no-delay, high-speed data from space, Baseload Renewables, which is working on ultra-low-cost energy storage, C2Sense, a company creating an olfactory sensor to transform smell into real-time data, and Via Separations, which is developing a materials technology for industrial separation processes. Each of the firms will receive financial support and access to costly resources.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Iran seeks financial aid abroad for waste-to-energy projects
 Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19

By Fatih Karimov– Trend:

Producing electricity from waste can be considered as an important option for the Islamic Republic, where over 20 million tons of waste is produced annually.

An Iranian citizen produces some 700 grams of trash every day, which is significantly over the global average of 300 grams. So 80 million Iranians produce over 56 million kilograms of waste every day, of that only 5 percent is recycled.

Reportedly, Iran has the capacity to generate more than 10,000 MW of electricity from biomass, with 25 cities capable of generating at least 400 MW of electricity from waste material.

That is why the Iranian administration has started to take steps to expand the waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in collaboration with international companies.

Last year Iran's energy ministry announced that will pay 4,000 rials (about 12 cents based on official rate of 33,515 rials per each USD) per each kilowatt hour of electricity produced at garbage incineration power plants.

Currently only one WTE plant is active in capital city of Tehran - a mega city home to 9 million people - with limited output capacity of 2.5 megawatts.

According to data by state-owned Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA), two WTE plants are operational in Shiraz and Mashhad cities as well.

Earlier in March 2017, Iran signed a build–operate–transfer (BOT) contract with the Czech Republic for construction of a 20 MW waste to energy plant in Iran’s northern Gilan province. The plant will be capable of burning 350 tons of trash per day to generate power.

In a recent development, Abdolamir Bakhshizadeh, an official with the Mashhad Municipality announced that several investors from European and Asian countries including China, Japan, India, France, Germany and Austria have expressed readiness to implement WTE projects in Tehran.

Bakhshizadeh, who heads Municipality Waste Organization of the city with 3.5 million population, told IRNA Sept. 19 that 3500 billion rials is needed for construction of WTE plants based on Asian technology, meanwhile implementing the project based on European technology will cost 13,000 billion rials.

Establishing incinerator power plant projects in big cities which enable the Islamic Republic to produce electricity from garbage is among the priorities of the Iranian energy ministry and the ministry has allocated 19 locations for construction of this type of power plants.

WTE plants will be launched around cities with over 200 thousand people population both to help power production and prevent waste from polluting environment.

According to the Sixth National Development Plan (2016-2021), Iran is aiming at the production of 700 megawatts of electricity in the form of waste-to-energy power generation.

Output: Iran is turning to European and Asian investors to help fund a series of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, following an agreement signed in March with the Czech Republic for a 20 MW WTE plant. Iran recycles just 5% of the 56 million kilograms of waste generated every day, while only a single WTE plant is active in Tehran. The Iranian energy ministry has already allocated 19 sites for construction of WTE facilities and aims to generate up to 700 MW by 2021.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
GM buys 200 MW of wind energy in Ohio and Illinois
 Eric Lawrence

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT -- General Motors is making a big investment in wind power.

The automaker has announced that it is purchasing 200 megawatts of wind energy from wind farms in Ohio and Illinois, and that once the turbines are online next year, 20% of the company's global electricity usage will be powered by renewables. The electricity generated will supply seven plants, including those that make the Chevrolet Cruze and Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pickups.

GM announced last year that it intends to source all electricity needs at its facilities worldwide with renewable energy by 2050.

Details about the cost for the wind power purchase were not released, but the company noted a connection to the push for zero-emission vehicles. Those include electric vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Bolt.

One of the criticisms of zero-emission vehicles as a cleaner transportation mode is that making the energy to power them still causes pollution, if not as much, just not through the tailpipe.

More:As Trump ditches Paris, California is one step closer to getting wind power from Wyoming

More:Maine windjammers let you dance with the wind

More:GM plant strike could create shortages of hot Chevrolet Equinox SUV

"As GM works toward advancing zero-emissions vehicles, it makes business sense to create a cleaner grid on which to drive them. The company uses (electric vehicle) batteries in tandem with a solar array to power an office building at its Milford Proving Ground in Michigan and is researching the use of fuel cells as energy storage in the future," it said.

Rob Threlkeld, GM global manager of renewable energy, said that through a "pragmatic strategy, companies can turn ambitious renewable energy goals into action and scale quickly.”

Threlkeld said that the cost to produce wind power continues to drop, making it more feasible to use as a power source in areas closer to most of GM's manufacturing plants.

The company said its wind power purchases will be "enough to meet the electricity needs of Ft. Wayne Assembly, Marion Metal Center and Bedford Casting plants in Indiana and Lordstown Assembly, Defiance Casting Operations, Parma Metal Center and Toledo Transmission plants in Ohio."

Starwood Energy Group will provide half of the energy through its Northwest Ohio Wind farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties, and Swift Current Energy will provide the rest through its HillTopper Wind Project in Logan County, Ill., the release said.

GM says it made its first wind power purchase in 2014 for several Mexican facilities; uses solar power at 26 locations; and gets electricity from landfill gas at two assembly plants. The company says it saves about $5 million each year using renewable energy.

Output: US car manufacturer General Motors (GM) will purchase 200 MW of wind energy from farms in Ohio and Illinois. By next year, 20% of GM's energy needs will be met by renewables, according to the company. The move is part of the firm's commitment, announced in 2016, to power 100% of its facilities around the world with green energy by 2050. By adopting a "pragmatic strategy, companies can turn ambitious renewable energy goals into action and scale quickly", said Rob Threlkeld, global manager of renewable energy at GM.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Hawaiian Electric Industries buys 60 MW Honokaa power plant
 One of the “highest efficiency, lowest emission power plants in the state” is being sold to a new subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

ADVERTISING

One of the “highest efficiency, lowest emission power plants in the state” is being sold to a new subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

The 60-megawatt Hamakua Energy Partners plant in Honokaa was sold to Pacific Current by Boston private equity firm ArcLight, according to a news release from ArcLight.

By 2045, 100 percent of power supplied in the state is required, by law, to come from renewable sources, such as wind, geothermal, water, bioenergy and solar. The state Legislature passed the law, signed by Gov. David Ige, in 2015.

“Hawaiian Electric Industries is firmly committed to meet the state’s goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045,” Greg Hazelton, executive vice president of HEI, Hawaii Electric Light Co.’s parent company, said via email. “The sale to a subsidiary of HEI will provide stable, local ownership of this critical power supply infrastructure, which can provide 22 percent of Hawaii Island’s generating capacity.”

Hamakua Energy Partners sells the power it produces to HELCO under a power purchase agreement, ArcLight said.

In March, the state Public Utilities Commission denied HELCO’s request to purchase Hamakua Energy because of “insufficient benefits to customers if the plant was directly owned by HELCO.”

But, “the plant is vital in providing a firm power source to ensure continued reliability for Hawaii Island customers while HELCO works to transition Hawaii to reach the state’s renewable energy goal,” Hazelton told the Tribune-Herald.

The PUC has broad authority, but HEI is betting the commission won’t intervene because HEI owns diverse entities beyond utilities, including American Savings Bank.

The ArcLight announcement of the plant’s sale says HELCO rates won’t change because the power purchase agreement, which remains in effect, doesn’t expire until 2030.

“Knowing the importance of this facility to Hawaii Island and the ability of our company to provide a strong financial foundation for its continued operation, we made the decision to acquire the plant, with the purchase price and risks of ownership borne solely by HEI shareholders, not customers of HELCO,” Hazelton said in the ArcLight release.

The plant has 15 workers who “will continue to be managed and operated by Consolidated Asset Management Services, which has managed the plant since 2010.”

“It has been a privilege serving the people of Hawaii Island and providing their energy needs over the past seven years,” said Daniel Revers, ArcLight’s managing partner and founder.

Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Output: Pacific Current, a new subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, has acquired the 60 MW Hamakua Energy Partners plant, based in Honokaa, from Boston private equity firm ArcLight, according to an ArcLight statement. The facility is capable of supplying up to 22% of Hawaii’s electricity. By 2045, 100% of power supplied in the state is legally required to come from renewable sources. Earlier this year, the Public Utilities Commission rejected a request to purchase Hamakua Energy by Hawaii Electric Light, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, citing “insufficient benefits to customers".