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London forecast to be fastest growing market for Chinese tourism
 The number of visitors London attracts from China is expected to double to 330,000 by 2025, according to forecast issued by the office of the UK capital's mayor.

London hosted 160,000 tourists from China in 2016, according to London & Partners, the Mayor of London's official promotional agency.

The predicted 103-percent rise means China is set to become London's fastest-growing major tourism market, followed by India which is expected to rise by 90 percent and the US and the United Arab Emirates which are both projected to grow by 43 percent.

Chinese visitors' spending in London is also set to rise 129 percent from 218.5 million pounds ($283 million) last year to an estimated 500.7 million pounds in 2025. Each Chinese visitor spends an average of about 1,800 pounds during their stay in London, twice the 900-pound-per-week gross weekly household income in London.

Speaking at a launch event for London's Autumn tourism season, the city's Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "Chinese visitors－tourists, students, entrepreneurs, and business people -are so important to London being the great city that we are." "I welcome the contribution that Chinese men and women make to our great city," he added.

Goldman Sachs Research predicts that the number of Chinese passport holders will increase by 100 million over the next decade.

World Bank Departures data also shows rapid growth in China's outbound travelers, from 2.4 annual departures per 100 people in 2005 to 8.5 per 100 in 2015.

Khan was promoting a series of events being held across London over the coming months as part of its Autumn calendar.

These include the West End opening of hit musical Hamilton; the Museums at Night Festival; the MTV European Music Awards; and the return of the NFL at the Wembley and Twickenham stadiums.

A fifth of all Chinese visitors to London in 2016 arrived between October and December. Over half arrived in the Summer quarter, and around 14 percent arrived in both the Winter and Spring quarters.

Khan also announced the launch of A Tourism Vision for London, a new long-term campaign to promote the capital.

London & Partners will collaborate with 100 industry leaders, including Gatwick Airport and Hilton Hotels, to attract more first-time visitors, boost visitor numbers in off-peak periods and harness technology to engage tourists.

Promotional efforts targeting Chinese tourists last year saw record growth in visitor numbers at some of London's attractions.

The Royal Museums Greenwich－which include the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, the Royal Observatory, and 19th Century tea vessel the Cutty Sark -saw a 78 percent year-on-year increase of Chinese visitors in June 2017, following a campaign promoting the museums in China in 2016.

Output: Chinese tourist visits to London are predicted to double to 330,000 between 2016 and 2025, making London the fastest growing market for China, according to London & Partners. The London promotional agency that works on behalf of the mayor's office also predicted Chinese visits to India will rise by 90% and to the US and the UAE by 43% over the same period. Spending by Chinese visitors in London is expected to rise by 129% from £218.5m ($283m) in 2016 to £500.7m ($647m) in 2025. A Chinese tourist spends an average of £1,800 on a visit to the capital.


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Manage Damage unveils plan to help cut worker insurance costs
 Risk Dollarisation - breakthrough financial approach for worker health and safety management

SINGAPORE, Sept. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian risk advisory firm, Manage Damage presented their innovative approach to reducing costs of worker insurance to global business today in Singapore at the 2017 World Congress on Safety & Health at Work. The Congress is jointly organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Social Security Association (ISSA), bodies of the United Nations.

Jillian Hamilton, Managing Director of Manage Damage, introduced their unique approach within the symposium 'Prevention pays! The role of accident insurance and the return on work reintegration'. The Manage Damage methodology of analysis is of interest globally as countries seek to strengthen the global workforce.

"Business, international labour organisations and governments have struggled to find ways to define the true cost of non-financial risk as they seek to build a stronger global workforce, our methodology is a world first to prove in fiscal terms that prevention pays," said Hamilton.

Non-financial risk targets those areas not measured in financial terms - the support and shared services in an organisation. The full financial position of these services is not usually known as associated costs are either not identified or hidden across operational or financial structures.

The Manage Damage process analyses the costs such as safety, health, environment, quality and human resources across the whole of business and converts this information into financial terms to be easily addressed by boards and senior leadership.

"Manage Damage is about reducing risk across the whole of a business. We call our philosophy 'Risk Dollarisation'. Our methodology converts non-financial risk into dollar terms to enable management to more easily address the complex interplay of these factors within a business and reduce associated costs. Management can see where issues lie and where true associated costs are located," said Hamilton.

Companies obtain complete visibility of true damage costs and opportunities to manage the damage are highlighted. This unique approach to 'dollarising' risk reduces the cost of damage and the negative impact on a company's bottom-line.

"We are seeing great interest from both large business and government globally in our approach. This is an area which has been pushed into the too hard basket by management as it has been difficult to address in clear fiscal terms. Our methodology solves this problem."

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/australian-company-reveals-new-solution-for-global-worker-risk-300513333.html

SOURCE Manage Damage

Output: Queensland-based company Manage Damage has unveiled what it has dubbed a "world first" solution to reducing the cost of worker insurance for global businesses. Speaking at the World Congress on Safety & Health at Work in Singapore, Jillian Hamilton, MD of Manage Damage, said the company's innovative "risk dollarisation" distilled all company non-financial information and translated it into financial terms, so "management can see where issues lie and where true associated costs are located".


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China's shipbuilders tap into surge in cruise ship tourism
 Chinese Yards Look to Cruise Boom

Chinese shipbuilders are increasingly interested in cruise ship building, a segment that accounted for nearly half of global orders last year.

China’s government has made cruise ship building a major objective in its “Made in China 2025” program, aiming to tap into the $117 billion industry with upgrades to its domestic capacity.

China Daily reports Fu Chunhong, vice-chairman of the Chinese organizing committee of Marintec China, saying: "In addition to China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), quite a few other Chinese shipbuilders, such as China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and China Merchants Heavy Industry, are proactive in cruise liner building."

China's first locally-built cruise ship will be delivered from Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, part of CSSC, in 2023. CSSC is working with Fincantieri and Lloyd’s Register on the project and has also attracted foreign suppliers such as Wärtsilä to set up joint ventures. The order is for two 5,000-passenger cruise ships and is part of a $1.5 billion deal signed in February which includes an option for four more ships.

Other Chinese yards are rumored to be offering discounts of up to 30 percent to win orders. In March, China Merchants won an order for up to 10 vessels for Miami-based SunStone Ships, and Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry won an order from Finland’s Viking Line in April for a cruise ferry. Reuters reports Viking Line’s CEO Jan Hanses, saying he received interest from six Chinese yards, including Guangzhou International Shipyard, Yantai CIMC Raffles and AVIC Weihai Shipyard.

Some European shipbuilders fear China could come to dominate the cruise ship market, much as it has done in cargo ships over recent decades. “This is a state objective that threatens to cause tremendous distortion in competition,” Reinhard Luken, chief executive of the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association, told Reuters last month. The Association represents German maritime firms such as shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries stopped building cruise ships last year after its losses on two vessels for Carnival Corporation topped $2 billion.

Output: A surge in Chinese tourists' love of cruise ships has led to an increase in Chinese shipbuilders targeting the sector, which accounted for nearly half of global orders last year. The Beijing government is encouraging cruise ship building as part of its "Made in China 2025" initiative. "In addition to China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), quite a few other Chinese shipbuilders, such as China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and China Merchants Heavy Industry, are proactive in cruise liner building", said Fu Chunhong of Marintec China.


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Aramco uses advanced seismic imaging to re-explore Empty Quarter
 Saudi Aramco is deploying advanced seismic testing technology to explore again areas of the desert known as the Empty Quarter, a move that could help it to raise its proved oil and gas reserves ahead of the planned listing of 5 percent in the company next year, expected to be the world’s biggest IPO ever.

Aramco’s crew is exploring an area spanning 15,400 square kilometers (5,946 square miles) around Turayqa—an onshore conventional gas field discovered in 2013, which contains no oil. Part of that desert area has been explored before by Aramco joint ventures with foreign firms, but previous exploration efforts did not find recoverable volumes of oil or gas.

“Data processing is ongoing. The area partially covers areas relinquished by some of the joint ventures,” Aramco told Reuters.

According to the feature on Aramco’s website, technology has made giant leaps in recent years and “Data that would have previously taken 15 to 20 years to collate can now be consolidated in two to three years.”

According to industry and technology experts briefed by Reuters, the advanced seismic technology may boost the chances of successful exploration missions, but in order to prove reserves, drilling still will be necessary.

It is yet unclear if those state-of-the-art technologies will change Aramco’s crude oil and condensate reserves, which Saudi Arabia has been reporting at around 260 billion barrels for decades.

In Saudi Aramco’s 2016 annual review published last month, crude oil and condensate reserves are placed at 260.8 billion barrels, slightly down from 261.1 billion barrels in 2015.

Related: Texas Shale Hit Hard By Hurricane Harvey

Now Saudi Aramco must open its books for auditing ahead of the initial public offering, and any significant change in oil reserves will greatly impact the company’s valuation for the IPO. Saudi officials claim the company is worth around US$2 trillion.

Earlier this year, most fund managers were evaluating Aramco at below US$1.5 trillion. That was just before Saudi Arabia cut the tax rate on Aramco to 50 percent from 85 percent, which caused some analysts, including Rystad Energy, to raise their valuation of the Saudi company’s upstream portfolio.

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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Output: Saudi Aramco is using advanced seismic technology to look again at assets in the country's Empty Quarter after previously failing to find recoverable amounts of natural gas. The technique analyses the effects of artificially induced shockwaves to build up a three-dimensional picture of the structure of rock to a depth of several kilometres, to help identify locations likely to have oil and gas deposits. Technology has advanced to the degree that “data that would have previously taken 15 to 20 years to collate can now be consolidated in two to three years", Aramco said on its website.


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Redrow Redrow calls for change at Construction Industry Training Board
 Redrow chief executive John Tutte has called for change at the CITB after accusing the training body of not “delivering what it was set up to do”.

Speaking to Construction News, Mr Tutte said his firm wanted to see reform at the CITB, although he stopped short of calling for the training body to be scrapped.

“There is a lot of doubt about the CITB at the moment and there’s no doubt that it’s not been delivering what it was set up to do,” he said.

“But that’s not a great surprise; the CITB was established 60 years ago when the construction sector looked a hell of a lot different from what it does today.

“There is certainly some concern about the direction the CITB has gone in; it’s not really adapted to the housebuilding market.”

Construction News revealed last month that the majority of the country’s housebuilders look set to vote against the continuation of the CITB when they have their say on its future this month.

It is understood that many of the UK’s housebuilders, including HBF members, are lining up to vote to scrap the CITB levy, and thereby opting against continuing with the 43-year-old training board.

While he did not reveal which way his firm would vote, Mr Tutte said Redrow’s view was that “there needs to be change” at the CITB.

“That doesn’t mean you have to scrap it, but I think it needs some reform.”

Mr Tutte was speaking after the housebuilder revealed record results for the year to 30 June 2017, with revenue rising 20 per cent year on year to hit £1.66bn.

Profit before tax rose 26 per cent to £315m, up from £250m, giving a pre-tax margin of 19.4 per cent.

Legal completions hit an all-time high of 5,416, up 15 per cent on its previous year.

The housebuilder’s order book increased 14 per cent to reach £1.1bn, up from £967m, while employee numbers were up 12 per cent to 2,200.

The results have led Redrow to update its medium-term guidance, with the company now expecting turnover of £2.2bn by 2020, along with pre-tax profit of around £430m. Its dividend is also due to increase to 32p per share by 2020.

Mr Tutte said the 2020 forecast was “clearly ahead” of its previous guidance, which went as far as 2019, and added that he did not expect “a huge impact” from the UK’s upcoming exit from the EU because of strong demand for housing.

He added although the housebuilder was concerned about labour supply, he had not seen EU workers “deserting [Redrow] sites at all”.

“We’re maintaining our level of EU labour, and I’m sure in the end sense will prevail and everybody will realise [EU workers] make a huge and important contribution to the UK housing and construction sectors.”

Redrow also revealed that chairman Steve Morgan would step back into a non-executive chairman role, and will begin the transition from his executive role during the current financial year.

“Eight years after returning to Redrow, I have decided to ease back from a full-time executive role towards a non-executive role,” Mr Morgan said.

“The transition is to take place during the current financial year. It is my intention to continue to focus with the board on the strategic development of the business and I will retain my keen involvement with the product and key important projects.”

City analysts welcomed the housebuilder’s results, with Liberum upgrading its estimates for the company by 5-6 per cent for its 2018 and 2019 financial years.

Output: John Tutte, Redrow's chief executive, has criticised the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) ahead of a crucial vote on the body's future. Many of the UK's housebuilders are reported to be preparing to vote to scrap the CITB levy, effectively ending the 43-year old training board. Tutte said it is no longer achieving what it was set up to achieve and needed reform, though he stopped short of saying it should be scrapped. His comments came as Redrow announced record results, with pre-tax profit rising 26% to £315m ($408m).


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Employee fingerprint tech used to mask discontent: Unite
 Sports Direct warehouse staff who say they are unhappy with their working conditions are being identified by their fingerprints and asked to explain their grievances to management, according to the trade union Unite.

The leisurewear company has introduced a staff survey system at its Shirebrook warehouse, Derbyshire, which was at the centre of allegations of “gulag” conditions last year after a Guardian investigation.

When the warehouse’s 3,500 workers clock in, they are asked to press a touchpad featuring a happy or sad face emoji to indicate whether they are satisfied with working conditions.

If they press sad, they are asked whether they are sure about their decision and, if they press it again, they can be called in by managers to discuss why they did so.

Staff can be identified because the touchpad uses fingerprint recognition technology to identify those who express discontent.

The Shirebrook warehouse was at the centre of allegations of ‘gulag’ conditions after a Guardian investigation. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Unite said the staff survey system was “bogus” because workers were unlikely to be candid about their feelings if they could then be singled out for questioning.

“Put yourself in their shoes,” said the union’s assistant general secretary, Steve Turner.

“Would you risk having hours withheld, possibly losing your job and being called in by management because you indicated dissatisfaction with your work environment?”

Turner described the survey as “a bogus exercise to gloss over past failures and some of the problems” which he said still persisted at the warehouse.

Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs of the work and pensions select committee, said an anonymous feedback system would be better.

“All it will reveal is how brave some staff are,” he said. “We ought to extend it to MPs and see how they feel about Sports Direct.”

Shirebrook became the focus of a parliamentary inquiry last year after a Guardian investigation revealed dismal working conditions, including body searches, pay below the minimum wage and constant fear of sacking for minor transgressions.

Unite said conditions were still poor and that the “vast majority” of workers were on contracts that guaranteed no more than 336 hours a year.

“With reports from agency workers of crowded aisles, defective warehouse equipment and products stacked dangerously high, we know that health and safety is still a major cause for concern,” said Turner.

“Gimmicks like using emojis do not escape the fact that Sports Direct’s reliance on thousands of insecure agency workers still poses a reputational risk or that many are still owed money for non-payment of the minimum wage.

“Sports Direct still has a long way to go to clean its act up and risks the charge of ‘business as usual’ until it makes temporary agency workers direct permanent employees.”

Sports Direct said it had put in place multiple ways to protect staff and allow them to provide feedback.

“We believe these comments by Unite do not accurately reflect the position at Sports Direct,” said a spokesperson. “We have a range of different measures in place to protect staff. These include a comprehensive system for staff to provide detailed feedback via an initiative called your company, your voice, plus a workers representative who attends meetings of the board.”

Sports Direct also had a “staff listening group, a staff health and safety committee and a staff wellbeing service”, said the spokesperson.

“Whilst we are disappointed with Unite’s stance we will continue to engage with the union, and we recently contacted Unite on this basis.”

Output: Sports Direct is using fingerprint technology to identify staff who express dissatisfaction with their working conditions and call them in to see management, according to the Unite union. The sportswear manufacturer, which has been criticised for exploiting staff, has introduced a survey in which workers can press a sad face emoticon on a touchpad to raise concern about their conditions. This then uses fingerprint recognition software to identify the employee, who can then be contacted by management to discuss their concerns. The company says it has multiple ways for staff to provide feedback, and challenged the union's claims.


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Category 4 Hurricane Irma approaches Florida and Puerto Rico
 Story highlights New: Puerto Rico under hurricane warning "If there was a US landfall, we're talking a week from today," CNN meteorologist says

CNN —

Hurricane Irma strengthened to a Category 4 storm Monday, churning west in the Atlantic Ocean and prompting emergency declarations in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Although Irma’s path remains uncertain, the possibility it could threaten the United States led Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency in all 67 counties in his state.

“In Florida, we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and while the exact path of Irma is not absolutely known at this time, we cannot afford to not be prepared,” Scott said in a statement released late Monday afternoon. “This state of emergency allows our emergency management officials to act swiftly in the best interest of Floridians without the burden of bureaucracy or red tape.”

Scott said on Twitter he spoke to President Donald Trump Monday night. He said Trump “offered the full resources of the federal government as Floridians prepare for Hurricane Irma.”

The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, declared a state of emergency Monday and activated the National Guard. Hours later, the National Hurricane Center issued an hurricane warning for Puerto Rico.

Classes will not be held on Tuesday in the public education system nor in the University of Puerto Rico, according to a release from the governor’s office. Rosselló warned the public on Sunday that the island could feel Irma’s wrath around noon Wednesday.

As of 11 p.m. ET, Monday, Irma was about 410 miles (660 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands, the National Hurricane Center said. It is packing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph) as it heads west at 13 mph (20 kph). Landfall is expected early Wednesday on the island of Anguilla.

Computer models show the system moving through the Caribbean, and by the end of week, it will turn right toward the north, said CNN meteorologist and weather anchor Tom Sater.

“There is a small window. If it turns sooner rather than later, we could maybe see the system slide by the East Coast into the ocean, but that window is shutting quickly,” Sater said. “It definitely looks like we will be impacted by a major hurricane that is a Category 3, 4 or 5.”

TRACK THE STORM HERE

Hurricane watches are in effect for the Nrn Leeward Islands. TS force winds are most likely to begin late Tuesday. https://t.co/bMPsoVzZbE pic.twitter.com/62ODI79Pmu — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 4, 2017

The hurricane center said swells generated by Irma would begin impacting the northern Leeward Islands on Monday.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the hurricane center said.

In addition to Puerto Rico, a string of Caribbean islands are now under hurricane warnings, including Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Martin/Sint Maarten and St. Barts, the hurricane center said.

“A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area,” the hurricane center said. “A warning is typically issued 36 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”

And Irma will only strengthen this week, CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said. “Over the coming days, it’s going to get into that warmer water. That’s going to help the storm intensify.”

Puerto Ricans warned

Irma is expected to remain a “dangerous major hurricane” through the week and could directly affect the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas, the agency said.

Puerto Rico’s disaster management agency, AEMEAD, is monitoring Irma and has opened an information hotline.

Florida governor says be prepared

It’s too soon to know the impact Irma could have on the continental United States, where no warnings or watches are in effect.

“Regardless, everyone in hurricane-prone areas should ensure that they have their hurricane plan in place, as we are now near the peak of the season,” the hurricane center said.

Chinchar said Irma could affect not just the eastern coast of Florida, but also farther up the East Coast.

“If there was a US landfall, we’re talking a week from today,” Chinchar said Monday.

Gov. Scott urged the state’s residents to ensure their disaster supply kits were ready. “Disaster preparedness should be a priority for every Florida family,” he tweeted Sunday

Read: Hurricane Irma could be next weather disaster

Why Irma could be especially intense

Irma is a classic “Cape Verde hurricane,” meaning it formed in the far eastern Atlantic, near the Cape Verde Islands (now known as the Cabo Verde Islands), before tracking all the way across the Atlantic, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.

And Cape Verde storms frequently become some of the largest and most intense hurricanes. Examples include Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Floyd, and Hurricane Ivan.

Output: Florida and Puerto Rico have both declared states of emergency as Hurricane Irma, recently upgraded to category 4, approaches. The storm's exact path remains unclear. "It definitely looks like we will be impacted by a major hurricane that is a Category 3, 4 or 5", says CNN meteorologist Tom Sater. Orange juice and cotton futures have soared in response to the hurricane threat to the southern states. A number of Caribbean islands have also issued hurricane warnings.


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Texo carries out first drone-based LIDAR scan of offshore assets
 Edit page New page Hide edit links

Texo Drone Survey and Inspection, has carried out the first ever Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) survey-grade LiDAR scan of an offshore asset, combined with ground-based Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM) (photo: Texo DSI)

Texo DSI (UKCS) Ltd, the offshore division of Texo Drone Survey and Inspection, has carried out the first ever Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) survey-grade LiDAR scan of an offshore asset, combined with ground-based Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM).

A team from Texo DSI (UKCS) travelled to the Port of Esbjerg in Denmark, from where they went on to scan Paragon Offshore’s HZ1 jack up.

Texo DSI (UKCS) is the only company in the world to have built survey-grade LiDAR scanning technology, with the ability to capture data to a level of below 2mm, onto a bespoke UAV and integrated this with ground-based SLAM.

This allows the company, which owns and operates the world’s most comprehensive and dynamic fleet of UAVs, to deliver a fully integrated solution to the offshore oil and gas industry. The collaboration between the tailored, state-of-the-art equipment and precision data technology is proving a game changer, with applications in both engineering and asset lifecycle management.

Pim Peters, drilling superintendent at Paragon Offshore, says, “This was an exciting project to be a part of. The big gain for us is improving the quality of our inspections by having more accurate data, rather than relying on eyewitness feedback, and moving to comparative analysis on trends, specifically around corrosion rates.

“In addition, we can reduce the risk to personnel, with fewer working at height or in confined spaces, as well as having a more efficient set up which has significant economic advantages.”

John Wood, chief operating officer, Texo DSI (UKCS), adds, “This project heralds a new era for precision data collection for oil and gas assets. Our world-leading technology delivers real benefits to the oil and gas industry, driving much needed efficiencies and taking asset information modelling for asset integrity to a new level. Paragon Offshore is already seeing the advantages that faster, accurate, precision data can give them.”

Output: Oil and gas asset inspection company Texo DSI said it has performed the first survey-grade light detection and ranging (LIDAR) scan of an offshore asset with a drone. Texo's drone used LIDAR and simultaneous location and mapping to scan Paragon Offshore's rig off the coast of Denmark. The analysis provides precision data on trends such as corrosion rates and enables more efficient management of assets over their life cycle. Additionally, using LIDAR scans reduces the risk to personnel who would be required to work at height or in confined spaces, said Pim Peters, drilling superintendent at Paragon Offshore.


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Disease concerns rise as Houston deals with toxic water
 Officials in Houston are just beginning to grapple with the health and environmental risks that lurk in the waters dumped by Hurricane Harvey, a stew of toxic chemicals, sewage, debris and waste that still floods much of the city.

Flooded sewers are stoking fears of cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases. Runoff from the city’s sprawling petroleum and chemicals complex contains any number of hazardous compounds. Lead, arsenic and other toxic and carcinogenic elements may be leaching from some two dozen Superfund sites in the Houston area.

Porfirio Villarreal, a spokesman for the Houston Health Department, said the hazards of the water enveloping the city were self-evident.

“There’s no need to test it,” he said. “It’s contaminated. There’s millions of contaminants.”

He said health officials were urging people to stay out of the water if they could, although it is already too late for tens of thousands.

“We’re telling people to avoid the floodwater as much as possible. Don’t let your children play in it. And if you do touch it, wash it off,” Mr. Villarreal said. “Remember, this is going to go on for weeks.”

Flooding always brings the danger of contamination and disease, though epidemics from floods in the United States have been rare. This inundation, which put nearly 30 percent of the nation’s fourth-largest city underwater, will pose enormous problems, both immediately and when the waters finally recede.

Output: Authorities and residents in Houston, Texas are facing a "suite of threats" as the waters dumped by Hurricane Harvey bring fears of fast-spreading disease and contamination. While the Environmental Protection Agency has said it will examine two as-yet-unidentified sites in Corpus Christi, where toxic waste could pose a threat to residents, hundreds of thousands of people affected by the natural disaster rely on contaminated private wells for their water, which are not covered by the city's authorities.


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Gas to become world's primary energy source by 2035: DNV GL
 Oil and gas will be crucial components of the world’s energy future, according to DNV GL’s forecast of the energy transition. While renewable energy will grow its share of the energy mix, oil and gas will account for 44% of world energy supply in 2050, compared to 53% today. Gas will become the largest single source of energy from 2034.

DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook (ETO), a forecast that spans the global energy mix to 2050, predicts that global demand for energy will flatten in 2030, then steadily decline over the next two decades, thanks to step-changes in energy efficiency. The fossil fuel share of the world’s primary energy mix will reduce from 81% currently to 52% in 2050.

Demand for oil will peak in 2022, driven by expectations for a surge in prominence of light electric vehicles, accounting for 50% of new car sales globally by 2035. However, the stage is set for gas to become the largest single source of energy towards 2050, and the last of the fossil fuels to experience peak demand, which DNV GL expects will occur in 2035.

Gas will continue to play a key role alongside renewables in helping to meet future, lower-carbon, energy requirements. Major oil companies intend to increase the share of gas in their reserves, and DNV GL expect an accelerated shift by 2022 as they decarbonise business portfolios.

While demand for hydrocarbons will peak over the next two decades, significant investment will be needed to add new oil and gas production capacity and operate existing assets safely and sustainably. However, the results of DNV GL’s model reinforce the need to maintain strict cost efficiency in order to achieve the margins necessary for future capital and operational expenditure.

“We have seen impressive and important innovative efforts across the energy industry, resulting in cost saving and efficiency gains. The oil and gas industry must continue on a path of strict cost control to stay relevant. Coming from a tradition of technological achievements, and having the advantage of existing infrastructure and value chains, this industry has the potential to continue to contribute to energy security and shape our energy future,” said Elisabeth Tørstad, CEO, DNV GL – Oil & Gas.

“Increased digitalisation, standardisation and remote or autonomous operations will play a central role in achieving long-term cost savings and improving the oil and gas industry’s carbon footprint. We also expect the industry to turn to innovations in facility design, operating models and contracting strategies,” Tørstad added.

DNV GL has published a suite of reports on the Energy Transition Outlook, which are available to download free of charge. The main ETO report covers the transition of the entire energy mix to 2050. Three sector-specific supplements will accompany this: an oil and gas supplement and a renewable, power and energy supplement are both available this week. A maritime supplement will be available later this year. DNV GL’s oil and gas supplement considers some of the key trends identified by the company’s model across the sector’s value chain, and explores their implications.

Output: Gas will become the world's primary source of energy by 2035, according to DNV GL's Energy Transition Outlook. Oil and gas will still make up 44% of the world's energy in 2050, down from 53% at present, according to the forecast. The global demand for energy is expected to level out in 2030, thanks to drastic increases in efficiency. Renewable energy will claim a larger slice of the market, with fossil fuels falling from 81% at present to 52% in 2050.


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UK retailers linked to child labour and slavery in Indian granite
 John Lewis and Habitat have pulled a range of granite worktops from sale over concerns their supply chains may be tainted with slavery and child labour.

Many other high-street businesses selling granite products such as kitchen worktops, tiles and tombstones are also likely to scrutinise their supply chains after investigators discovered that debt bondage, underage workers and unsafe, unhealthy working conditions are part and parcel of daily working life in Indian quarries.

India is the largest global producer of granite, accounting for 49% of the world’s raw stone export in 2015. Three-quarters of the country’s granite is mined in just three states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. An investigation of 22 quarries and six waste stone processing sites in these states, recently published by the Dutch organisations India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) and Stop Child Labour, revealed major human rights and labour rights violations.

The violations included children under 14 working in waste stone processing, wages tied to extortionate loans, and safety equipment offered only when mining inspections were taking place.

The quarries’ performance was graded on six criteria: child labour, bonded labour, wages and social benefits, health, safety, and freedom of association.

More than 30 natural stone companies from the UK, EU, US, Australia and Canada are named in the report as sourcing products from the 22 quarries. None of the quarries has a prevention system for child labour.

One particularly problematic product is star galaxy granite, which is famed for its shimmer and often retails for £300 a square metre. It hails from only one area in the world: Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Diewertje Heyl, ICN’s corporate social responsibility officer, told the Observer that the granite belt is located in a specific area in Prakasam, and that quarries are consequently located “side by side” to extract the stone. “There are a few quarries where conditions are better than others, but by and large the poor conditions we described in the report are representative of the sector as a whole.”

Given the complexity of global supply chains, and the scale of abuses outlined in the report, it would be “almost impossible” to ensure that any star galaxy granite is free of labour or human rights irregularities, Heyl added.

John Lewis told the Observer that “in light of this report and pending further investigation, we have made the decision to remove from sale black/star galaxy granite and are currently investigating all granite sources worldwide”.

The statement continued: “As a socially responsible retailer, we require our suppliers not only to obey the law but also to respect the rights, interests and well being of their employees, their communities and the environment. We do not source granite directly. We work with one UK importer who has signed up to the John Lewis code of practice on responsible sourcing, which sets out in detail the standards that we expect our suppliers to meet on labour standards and the environment.”

A star galaxy granite kitchen worktop, taken from the mistermarble website. Photograph: mistermarble.co.uk/products/granite-products/star-galaxy/

Habitat kitchens are sold by the in-store concession Kütchenhaus, which is the UK subsidiary of German company Nobilia. Nobilia is the world’s biggest kitchen manufacturer.

In a statement, Nobilia confirmed that, although it doesn’t supply the granite worktops sold by its UK subsidiary, “star galaxy granite samples have been removed from the Habitat stores and Habitat have now stopped selling star galaxy [worktops].”

The statement continued: “All products that are sold in a store next to or in combination with Nobilia products (and could therefore be associated with Nobilia) should meet the same high welfare, environmental and quality standards as the products supplied by us and we do not hesitate to take appropriate action if any supplier is found to be in violation of these standards.”The durability and versatility of granite, which is available in 200 shades, make it the most sought after stone in the world. It is used for everything from government buildings and pavements to kitchen worktops and gravestones, with prices often soaring to £350 a square metre for premium varieties.

Granite mining can be deadly: constant exposure to dust can cause the incurable lung disease silicosis, which is associated with tuberculosis and lung cancer. Mining accidents are common but often go unreported, and 62% of the workers told researchers they do not receive safety equipment unless there are labour inspections.

Yet granite suppliers, many of whom openly claim on their websites that they source from India, often describe their finished products in the most luxurious terms. Cosentino, a Spanish exporter named in the report which operates in 70 countries, boasts of its granite as “works of art that have required millennia to finish”.

The ICN report linked half a dozen UK companies – mistermarble, Grantech, Nile Trading, Blyth Marble, KSG UK and Beltrami – to the Indian quarries. All six also import star galaxy granite and have showrooms dotted around the country, from which they sell their stone products to individuals, tradesmen and businesses.

Grantech, based in north Wales and a “direct importer of granite from around the world”, has been linked in the report to one of the worst performing quarries, where workers are allegedly denied clean drinking water and child labour and debt bondage are rampant. Grantech’s director, Gregg Timothy Ashfield, is also the director of Buckley Memorials, a 250-year-old family business that counts expensive star galaxy granite tombstones among its products.

None of the six UK companies named in the report responded to requests for comment on their supply chains. The Observer also contacted a number of businesses around the UK selling granite worktops, tombstones and tiles, none of whom responded to requests for comment.

Gerard Oonk, director of ICN and senior adviser of the Stop Child Labour coalition, said: “Modern slavery is endemic in the granite industry and the UK market is an important destination for its products. We strongly urge both British stone companies and the UK government to take concerted action in tackling this issue, as real change is needed to save lives. The present Modern Slavery Act is not enough to make this happen alone, because more is needed than just reporting – and many smaller granite importers are not even obliged to report under this act.”

Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, said the report posed “profound questions” regarding India’s attempts to tackle slavery and child labour.

“Indian quarrying has long been a byword for abuse and exploitation,” said McQuade. “Yet the companies that still source from India’s quarries are notably silent, including in their modern slavery statements, on how they are engaging with the Indian government to obtain the necessary fundamental reform of this sector to ensure that the enslavement of adults and children in quarrying is brought to an end.”

Output: A number of top UK retailers have withdrawn granite products from sale after they were found to be linked to child labour and abusive practices in Indian quarries. An investigation of 22 quarries and six processing plants found wages tied to extortionate loans, unsafe conditions and instances of children under 14 working on the sites. The joint report by the India Committee of the Netherlands and the Stop Child Labour campaign has prompted John Lewis and Habitat to suspend sales of star galaxy granite, and other suppliers are now examining their supply chains.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
School fruit in England contains multiple pesticide residues
 The free fruit and vegetables provided by the government to millions of young schoolchildren usually contain the residues of multiple pesticides, according to official tests collated in a new report.

In the last decade, residues of of 123 pesticides were found, while apples and bananas given out recently in schools contained more residues than those sold in supermarkets.

Government experts say “none of the residues are likely to result in any adverse health effects”. But campaigners argue there is great uncertainty about the combined effect of cocktails of pesticides and the increased susceptibility of children.

Pesticide Action Network (PAN), which released its new report as children return to school, said a precautionary approach should be taken and that switching the school scheme to organic produce would cost about 1p per child per day.

Since 2004, the Department of Health (DoH) has sought to promote healthy eating by providing one piece of fruit or vegetable every school day to children aged four to six years in England. The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) reaches about 2.3 million children in 16,300 schools and costs about £40m a year.

The DoH commissions testing of pesticide residues each term and PAN collated the results from 2005 to 2016. It found that 84% of the 2,238 items tested contained at least one pesticide and 66% contained multiple residues, with as many as 13 different chemicals in extreme cases.

Pesticides need to be toxic to kill the pests that destroy food crops and many of those found as residues are known to be harmful to humans. But their effect on health will depend on the dose to which people are exposed and any cocktail effect, The vast majority of the fruit and vegetables tested in the UK contain residues below the maximum level allowed.

PAN also found that the apples, bananas and raisins provided to schools in 2015 contained significantly more pesticide residues than those in tests of produce sold to the public. The reason for this is not known. However, the most commonly found residue, the fungicide imazalil, is discouraged by the Fairtrade scheme now common in supermarkets, while the SFVS bananas are not Fairtrade. Imazalil can cause developmental problems and may be carcinogenic.

“Our aim is not to alarm parents but they do have a right to know what chemicals are in the food being given to their children,” said Nick Mole at PAN. “While we applaud the DoH’s efforts to get children eating more fruit and vegetables, our research shows that the produce they are being given is generally worse than on the supermarket shelves. Given how little it would cost to switch the scheme to organic, the government shouldn’t be putting our children’s health at risk.”

Valentina Gallo, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, whose own daughter received fruit and vegetables through the scheme, said: “I think one should be reasonably concerned.”

“The report found a lot of pesticides, though we don’t know the doses,” she said. “It is true the cocktail effect may worsen the effect of pesticides and it is very true that children are much more vulnerable to pesticides. However, there is the balancing effect of eating more fruit and vegetables, because this protects against a lot of diseases.”

“Basically we don’t know enough,” Gallo said. “But there is a gap in research funding because there is a lot of lobbying, with big powers not wanting the research on pesticides to be carried out.”

A D0H spokeswoman said that just because a residue is present, it does not mean that it is harmful to health: “Fruit and vegetables supplied through the SFVS follow the same safety and quality legislation as all other fruit and vegetables in the UK. Maximum residue levels are set significantly below a level that could represent a risk to health, with the most sensitive individuals in the population taken into consideration.”

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said: “The FSA is confident that pesticide maximum residue levels provide a good level of protection to consumers. On rare occasions when an MRL is exceeded, the FSA will assess if action is necessary to protect consumers.”

The FSA states that fruit and vegetables that have residues below the maximum legal level should not require washing and that in any case some residues are contained within the produce and therefore cannot be rinsed off.

Studying the impact of pesticides on human health is difficult because deliberately exposing people would be unethical. But a study published last week of more than 500,000 births to women living in a farming region of California found that those who were the most exposed to pesticides experienced a 5-9% increase in problems such as premature births and abnormalities.

Another recent study, in Canada, estimated that fruit and vegetable consumption prevented many more cancers than the associated pesticide residues caused, but said cutting pesticide exposure was still desirable.

Output: Free fruit and vegetables given to school children in England under a government scheme contain residues from multiple pesticides, according to a report by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN). Residues from 123 pesticides were identified over the past decade, while apples and bananas distributed in schools contained a greater number of residues than those available in supermarkets. While the government claims the residues are unlikely to be harmful, campaigners argue that the combined effect of different pesticides remains unknown. PAN said that using organic produce in the scheme would cost approximately 1 pence per child per day.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
How best to predict how much money solar-plus-storage will save
 Increasingly, companies shopping for solar energy solutions now consider supporting these installations with energy storage. But it remains a challenge to run the numbers and prove how much money a solar-plus-storage project will actually save.

To meet the need for quick and credible calculations, several energy storage vendors, integrators, and software providers have introduced energy storage analysis tools. All these tools claim—in various terms—to deliver accurate projections of the financial value of solar-plus-storage projects. But here’s the rub: What does accuracy mean in each case? Can companies rely on the results of these analyses as a reliable projection of future returns, or do they serve as an indication of possible value?

Often, it’s the latter, because some tools ignore important but hard-to-predict factors, such as future weather and changing load profiles. Their projections are based on best-case scenarios under ideal conditions or with predictable patterns. Yet if a company is going to decide whether to accept or reject a solar-plus-storage proposal based on the analysis provided by one of these tools, the software needs to be able to model the complexity of the real world. And due to that complexity, these tools require the guiding hand of an experienced energy storage professional.

Let’s unpack these two issues:

Accounting for hard-to-predict factors

Weather variability. The challenge of solar PV intermittency is not a problem of the changing position of the sun over a solar array. That impact is rather easy to calculate. It’s the cloud cover over the array that defies easy prediction, and that wreaks havoc on energy bills when facilities incur heavy demand charges because they need to draw power from the grid.

Appropriately sized energy storage can offset such intermittency, but it is impossible to size a system accurately without taking weather into account. A storage system that is too small won’t always meet the need, and demand charges will occur. A system that is too large will be financially infeasible.

Modeling weather variability is possible, but it requires analysis of stochastic (random probability), rather than deterministic (fixed probability) processes. Historical weather data is not enough, especially in an era of climate change. Deriving the appropriate stochastic model requires the collection of years of performance data from actual energy storage installations. This is why many of the newer software providers, as well as integrators that don’t own their storage equipment, agree not to talk about the weather.

Load variability. Most commercial and industrial facilities experience seasonal, daily and even minute by minute fluctuations in their loads. One can make competent assumptions about seasonal changes. Like the weather factor, unpredictable load variability is a reality that is very convenient to ignore.

Load variability is also a stochastic process, with many factors that can be accurately modeled only with advanced algorithms, derived from copious empirical data and industry experience.

The human component

Mathematical models are never perfect. Neither are people. But together, first-rate analysts and sophisticated algorithms can deliver the best attainable predictive accuracy. While algorithms excel in rapid, multifactor analysis, it takes an experienced human to decide which factors to analyze. Self-service online software tools—some of which are now tantalizingly free—can’t adequately accommodate the idiosyncrasies of a commercial solar-plus-storage project.

Experienced energy storage engineers are uniquely qualified, both to employ advanced energy storage analysis tools and to interpret the results. Ideally, these engineers will also be the ones operating the system, using the same software to refine the charge and discharge parameters and identify opportunities for additional savings when unforeseen circumstances arise.

Performance guarantees: the litmus test of storage models

The typical solar-plus-storage buyer would be hard-pressed to formally compare energy storage analysis capabilities based on proprietary algorithms and claims of engineering competence. There’s no easy apples-to-apples comparison in this wide-ranging field. But there is a simple way to assess the legitimacy of an energy storage provider’s claims: Ask for a performance guarantee. Providers that are confident in their projections can stand behind them with a guarantee of compensation if the energy storage system does not meet specified performance projections under actual loads. When providers do offer performance guarantees, their compensation claims should be corroborated with an evaluation of their financial stability.

As solar-plus-storage installations proliferate, at both the distributed and the utility scales, we will all have much more real-world data about energy storage performance and cost savings. It will be interesting to see how companies leverage that data to make more profitable energy investment decisions.

Sean Kiernan is Green Charge’s Vice President and General Manager for Solar and Commercial Energy Storage.

Output: Companies seeking to invest in solar energy solutions supported by energy storage find it difficult to project the savings storage will bring. Energy storage vendors are increasingly producing analysis tools to help provide the necessary calculations, but these are of varying reliability. Amongst the variables that can cause difficulties are hard-to-predict factors such as weather patterns and changing load patterns. Modelling weather is difficult, and load variability is also subject to constant fluctuations. Faced with these challenges, investors can ask for performance guarantees that provide compensation if the system doesn't meet the expected performance levels.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Europe could triple offshore wind growth
 A tripling of European offshore wind growth needed to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals is realistic between now and 2045, say experts.

“The political will to support offshore wind goes hand in hand with cost reductions,” said Michael Guldbrandtsen, managing consultant for offshore and manager of the Europe, Middle East and Africa research team at MAKE Consulting.

“If we continue to see costs dropping, and developers show that they are capable of constructing wind farms at very low subsidy levels, then I think we could see more capacity coming on-line toward 2030.”

The comments followed a recent warning by Navigant-owned Ecofys that Western Europe will need to install some 230 gigawatts of offshore wind across the Atlantic and North, Baltic and Irish Seas in order to meet the Paris targets on decarbonization of the energy system.

“With 13 gigawatts installed currently,” said Ecofys, “the region is far from the required total. To realize this growth, the offshore wind installation rate would have to triple from the current 3 gigawatts a year to approximately 10 gigawatts a year in 2030.”

Michiel Müller, managing director at Ecofys, also said he believed this was an achievable target. “Currently, I’m pretty optimistic that this can happen,” he told GTM.

“What I’ve seen over the last couple of years is a very strongly increased political commitment to pursue this direction. This is supported by an industry that demonstrates it can decrease its costs significantly in a short period of time, making it very realistic.”

The Ecofys research was originally published in March and aimed to see how Europe could achieve zero carbon emissions before 2050.

This would require a 50 percent reduction in total energy demand, compared to 2010, and a full decarbonization of the electricity supply by around 2045.

Ecofys restricted its study to countries in north Western Europe, and specifically the British Isles, Benelux, France, Germany and the Nordics.

The study accounted for the technically and economically feasible growth that might occur in onshore carbon-free generation sources such as biomass, hydro, solar and onshore wind.

It also assumed no new nuclear plants would be built beyond the already-troubled Flamanville 3 and Hinkley Point C projects, located in France and the U.K., respectively.

With practically all of Europe’s nuclear fleet due for retirement in the run-up to 2050, this would leave nuclear catering to a miniscule portion of the study area’s grid mix by 2045, compared to a roughly one-third share of electricity generation in 2010.

These onshore sources would only be able to supply 55 percent of the energy needed by countries in the region, Ecofys calculations showed. The research concluded offshore wind would be “pivotal” in decarbonizing the electricity supply.

Of the 230 gigawatts of offshore capacity required, 180 gigawatts could be installed in the North Sea, Ecofys said. This presents challenges because the North Sea is an important nature area that is used intensively by a wide variety of economic sectors.

Even assuming an average offshore wind turbine size of 8 megawatts, which represents close to the top end of the machines currently on order, around 22,500 turbines would need to be installed in the North Sea to deliver the capacity needed for decarbonization.

The space is there, said Müller, but what remains unclear is how so many turbines might affect marine ecosystems and wind resource.

Another problem is that all this wind power will increasingly need to be shunted back and forth to balance out local peaks and troughs in production.

Ecofys calculates between 50 and 80 gigawatts of interconnection capacity might be needed between the British Isles, mainland Europe and the Nordics.

“The onshore grid is an essential part of the North Sea grid, too, and it needs to cope with new flow patterns,” the consultancy observed.

A final point, not addressed by Ecofys, is how the offshore wind industry might cope with a growing requirement to use floating turbine technologies in water depths that are beyond the scope of traditional foundations.

"Floating offshore wind remains in its infancy, and this means that it brings with it a number of risks,” said Robert Bates, an assistant underwriter at the renewable energy insurer GCube.

“In the first instance, the wind turbines and supporting infrastructure need to prove they can perform in what are often challenging marine conditions.”

Output: Europe is fully capable of tripling its offshore wind growth and meeting its Paris Agreement goals by 2045, according to experts. Ecofys recently warned that Western Europe will need to install around 230 GW of offshore wind power to meet the goals set in Paris. It added that offshore installation would need to triple by 2030 to achieve the targets. Ecofys Managing Director Michiel Müller said he was optimistic this could happen.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Ohio may offer $10m in rebates to EV charging hosts
 Dive Brief:

American Electric Power has reached an agreement with the Electric Vehicle Charging Association and several other parties, setting forth a plan to spend almost $10 million on rebates for charging infrastructure in the utility's Ohio service territory.

The plan calls for 300 level 2 charging stations and 75 direct current fast chargers — more than doubling the 280 public charging stations in Ohio today, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Rebates will be provided to site hosts to purchase, own and maintain charging equipment, with emphasis on locating chargers in workplaces, at businesses and on government properties.

Dive Insight:

NRDC, a party to the collaborative agreement, said it expects the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to approve the EV infrastructure plan based on its broad support.

If approved, it would be "the first public charging station program to be authorized by regulators in the Midwest, paving the way for greater power sector engagement to accelerate the EV market to the benefit of all utility customers," the group said.

The pilot program aims to develop detailed information on the effectiveness of various electric vehicle program design elements, and will help to better develop proposals in the future. PUCO is also sponsoring PowerForward, a proceeding that explores how the state’s utility customers can benefit from distributed resources. And last summer, the city of Columbus won the U.S. Department of Transportation $40 million Smart City Challenge with a proposal that included EV charging infrastructure.

In addition to AEP, NRDC and EVCA, commission staff, Sierra Club, and the Environmental Law and Policy Center were also involved in the proposal.

As part of the proposal, AEP will also gather data and publish regular, public reports on several station metrics, including the prices charged, use and their reliability.

“The stipulation agreement is the result of trust and hard work put in by all parties to reach a scalable, sustainable program to support electric vehicle drivers in Ohio,” EVCA President Terry O’Day said in a statement.

O'Day said the rebate program model has been successfully utilized in other areas of the country, and "will quickly support drivers with valuable charging programs and low administrative costs."

Output: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is expected to approve a plan to offer $10m in rebates for new public charging stations for electric vehicles. Under the agreement worked out between American Electric Power and the Electric Vehicle Charging Association, 300 level two charging stations and 75 direct current fast chargers would be installed, with rebates provided to site hosts to purchase, own and maintain them. The development would more than double the 280 public charging stations in Ohio, and is based on rebate programmes implemented in other parts of the US.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
WaveLIFT gains funding to advance artificial lift pump technology
 WaveLIFT has secured funding of over GBP1 million to further develop its Artificial Lift pump technology for the oil and gas sector. The funding is led by Scottish business angel investment syndicate, Archangels, with co-investment from Scottish Enterprise and a private investor.

Based in Stirling, Scotland, WaveLIFT was launched in 2016 to develop conceptual down-hole pump designs for the Artificial Lift arena of the oil and gas industry. This technology is in high demand with 90% of wells requiring a form of Artificial Lift – which is the use of an artificial means to increase the flow of crude oil, water or gas from a production well.

WaveLIFT, is headed up by industry veteran, Steve Bruce, formerly Chief Executive of Darcy and Schlumberger, and Simon Munro, formerly of Business Growth Fund (BGF) and equity firm Lime Rock Partners, where he was Chairman. The funding will seek to further develop the technology to address the significant demand from both the conventional and unconventional oil and gas markets which are looking for highly efficient Artificial Lift technology.

Commenting on the funding round, Steve Bruce, Chief Executive of WaveLIFT, says: “The need for exploiting the world’s remaining oil reserves has never been greater. With increased exploration costs and reduced profit margins forcing operators to maximise returns from existing portfolios, we are well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity through our innovative Artificial Lift products.

“This is an exciting time for WaveLIFT and we are thrilled that our investors are supporting the next stage of our business. Having the funding support of Archangels, the Scottish Investment Bank and private investment will allow us to continue to grow and commercialise our business.”

Niki McKenzie, Investment Director at Archangels, adds: “Archangels’ investors were keen to lead this funding for WaveLIFT who now require support to meet the growing demand for artificial lift products in the oil & gas sector. Their product is innovative and unique and it has gained positive feedback from some major players in sector. We have been providing growth capital and investing in start-up companies in Scotland for a quarter of a century and we are proud to have WaveLIFT in our portfolio of exciting businesses.”

Output: WaveLIFT has gained over £1m ($1.3m) in funding for its product for the oil and gas market. The funding round was led by Archangels, a syndicate of businesses, with additional investment from Scottish Enterprise and a private party. The Scottish firm was established in 2016 to manufacture down-hole pump machines for the Artificial Lift sector, with 90% of wells needing an Artificial Lift to function.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Over-the-phone motor policies cost more than those bought online
 Watchdogs and customers blasted the fees, which come on top of spiralling premiums that have soared by a fifth

Exclusive: Insurance firms charging an extra £15 to buy or renew policies over the phone instead of online

Insurance giants are charging customers up to an extra £15 to buy or renew policies over the phone rather than online.

1st Central Car Insurance and Autonet Insurance both charge £15 for the privilege of doing business through a call centre.

Hastings Direct has a £12.50 call centre arrangement fee, which is in addition to other levies, including £5 for sending documents by post.

Watchdogs and customers blasted the fees, which come on top of spiralling car insurance bills that have soared by a fifth in the past year – from an average £577.22 to £690.35.

Image: Getty) Getty)

The extra charges have come to light since an industry requirement for greater transparency was introduced.

Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK , said: “This is undoubtedly rough on the millions of older people who are not internet users, many of whom can ill afford to pay a surcharge.”

Complaint handling group resolver.co.uk said it had received around 1,000 complaints about insurance in the past six months – with around a quarter relating to admin fees.

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

Spokesman Martyn James said: “It’s absolutely astounding that a business would charge people for speaking to a customer service adviser.”

Hastings Direct said: “We never charge anyone making a general inquiry or existing customers to phone us. Hastings Direct is largely an online insurance broker. A very small number of new customers want to complete the full buying process on the phone.”

1st Central said: “Most insurers charge adjustment fees. We maintain clear communication with our customers to ensure they are aware of this.”

An Autonet spokesman added: “All our fees are fully disclosed.”

Output: Watchdogs and consumers have criticised insurance companies that charge customers for buying or renewing their policies over the phone rather than online. Both 1st Central Car Insurance and Autonet Insurance charge £15 ($19), while Hastings Direct demands a £12.50 call centre arrangement fee. Organisation resolver.co.uk said it dealt with about 250 complaints in the past six months relating to insurance company administration costs. Hastings Direct said it only charged customers who completed the purchasing process via the phone, while 1st Central and Autonet said they made customers aware of the fees.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
London is insurtech capital as UK attracts record investment
 London remains European centre for InsurTech investment, says Accenture as £218m is ploughed into the sector.

Investment in InsurTech in the UK has surged to record levels, according to Accenture analysis of CB Insights data.

Accenture noted that this is a “sign of confidence in the UK as a global hub for insurance technology”.

The figures showed that investment in UK InsurTech has increased to £218m in the first half of 2017, compared to £7.3m the year before.

According to Accenture, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has not impacted the amount of investment coming into the InsurTech

Output: London remains the "undisputed centre" for insurtech investment, despite the uncertainty wrought by the Brexit vote, according to data from CB Insights. It found H1 2017 investment in the sector was £218m ($283m), compared with £7.3m the previous year, and 30% of all European insurtech deals were done in the English capital. The report also revealed investors flocked to cloud computing, the internet of things and big data technologies, while the number of deals rose 75% during the first six months of this year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Netherlands allocates 2.3 GW of solar capacity to winning bidders
 The Dutch Ministry of Economy has announced it has selected 4,386 PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,353 MW in the first round of the 2017 SDE+ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie).

The government-run agency Rijkdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), which is managing the SDE+ program, had previously pre-selected PV projects totaling 2,647 MW.

Overall, the RVO has allocated 3,212 MW of renewable energy power generation capacity through the bidding round, the remainder of which is represented by large-scale wind projects totaling 643 MW, biomass projects with a combined capacity of 110 MW, and geothermal projects equaling 50 MW. The remaining 52 MW are represented by other minor renewable energy technologies.

Despite solar boasting a share of 73% of the assigned projects, it will require only 49% of the funds allocated for the incentives, while wind power, which had a share of only 20% of the contracted capacity, will be entitled to receive 38% of the financial resources. PV projects will account for €2.86 billion, while wind power projects will require funds of €2.20 billion. Although the RVO had set a budget of €6 billion for this bidding round, the agency will grant incentives in the amount of €5.83 billion for all the selected projects.

In a letter sent to Parliament, in which details of the first round of the program were provided, the Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp stressed that the positive performance of solar, both in terms of allocated capacity and funds, was made possible by the cost reduction achieved by the PV technology over the past few years.

Popular content

The first round of the 2017 SDE program had three separate windows for submitting project proposals, which were opened on March 7, 13 and 20, and had a maximum tariff for solar of €0.090/kWh, €0.110/kWh and €0.125/kWh, respectively. Subsidies are granted for periods of eight, 12 or 15 years depending on the maximum number of full load hours for each technology.

The SDE+ compensates for the difference between the cost price of renewable energy and the market value of the energy supplied. Only PV projects with a power greater than 15 kW and a large-scale energy connection are eligible for SDE+ subsidies.

The “autumn round” for 2017, which will be the second and last round for this year, will be open from October 3 to October 27. The available budget for this round will be €6 billion.

According to figures provided to pv magazine by Peter Segaar, owner of solar website www.polderpv.nl and analyst of Dutch solar market trends, operational ground-mounted PV installations exceeding 50 kW reached just 58 MW at the end of February. Most of the PV projects approved under the SDE+ program, however, have recently been completed. According to Segaar, the large 2016 budget allocations for the SDE+ program are partly realized, and another 600 MW in new PV power stations could be connected to the grid this year.

Output: The Dutch ministry of economy has selected 4,386 solar projects with a combined capacity of 2,353 MW in the first round of this year's plan to stimulate sustainable energy production, known as SDE+. Of the 3,212 MW of renewable power generation capacity allocated through the bidding round,  73% will be made up of photovoltaic projects, requiring 49% of the funding. Wind energy will make up 20% of the contracted capacity, but will require 38% of the financing.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Around 87,000 refugees arrive in Bangladesh amid Myanmar crisis
 Rohingya refugees carry an elderly woman from Rakhine state in Myanmar along a path near Teknaf in Bangladesh

A total of 87,000 mostly Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since violence erupted in neighbouring Myanmar on August 25, the United Nations said Monday, amid growing international criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Thousands of the stateless Muslim minority have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar and poured over the border since the latest round of fighting broke out.

Their arrival has piled yet more pressure on already overcrowded camps in Bangladesh and raised fears of a humanitarian crisis as aid agencies struggle to cope with the influx of mainly women and children.

Around 20,000 more were massed on the border waiting to enter, the UN said in a report.

Dhaka stepped up border controls after the latest round of violence, but one Bangladeshi border guard told AFP the sheer number of people desperate to enter the country from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine had made it impossible to keep them out.

"It is bigger than the last time," said the guard, who asked not to be named, referring to the influx of refugees that followed an outbreak of violence last October.

"If it continues then we will face serious problems. But it's impossible to stop the flow: these people are everywhere."

Many of the new arrivals lacked shelter from the heavy monsoon rains, and an AFP reporter said hundreds of new makeshift shelters had sprung up on the outskirts of the existing camps in recent days.

"It has been raining frequently since last week. We have to keep our children safe from being sick," said Amena Begum, a newly arrived mother of five.

Rakhine has been a crucible of religious violence since 2012, when riots erupted. Scores of Rohingya were killed and tens of thousands of people -- most of them from the Muslim minority -- were forced into displacement camps.

But the current round of fighting, which broke out when Rohingya militants ambushed security installations, is the worst yet.

Myanmar's army has said nearly 400 people have died in the fighting that ensued, including 370 Rohingya militants.

- 'Shameful treatment' -

On Monday the office of Myanmar's de facto leader Suu Kyi said the military had fought 90 separate clashes with Rohingya militants since the ambushes.

In a statement it said more than 2,600 homes had been destroyed in Rohingya villages and 138 houses had been destroyed in non-Muslim villages -- blaming the fires and other damage entirely on the militants.

Suu Kyi is under increasing fire over her perceived unwillingness to speak out against the treatment of the Rohingya, who are viewed as interlopers in Myanmar.

The Nobel peace laureate, a former political prisoner of Myanmar's junta, has made no public comment since the latest fighting broke out.

"Over the last several years I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment," Pakistani activist and fellow Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said in a statement about the Rohingya crisis on Twitter.

"I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same."

The crisis threatens Myanmar's diplomatic relations, particularly with Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia where there is profound public anger at the treatment of the Rohingya.

Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi met Suu Kyi as well as Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Monday to press for greater efforts to alleviate the crisis.

Bangladesh, already home to an estimated 400,000 Rohingya before the latest influx, has also come in for international criticism for pushing people back to Myanmar.

Rights groups say this is a contravention of its international obligations.

On Monday officials on the small island of St Martin's nine kilometres (around six miles) off Bangladesh's coast said authorities had forced 2,011 Rohingya seeking refuge there to leave.

Elected official Farid Ahmed said children were among the refugees who were rounded up on Sunday evening before being taken back to Myanmar by boat.

"Rohingya children were crying. But it is the government order. What can we do?" Ahmed told AFP.

"They (Rohingya) said, where should we go? They (Myanmar forces) were killing us there. Our houses were burnt. They were firing at us."

Scores of people have drowned while attempting to flee the violence, which also killed or displaced ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and other tribal groups allegedly targeted by Rohingya militants.

Rohingya refugees rest under a tent in a meadow in Ukhiya, Bangladesh

The refugees say that many young Rohingya men have stayed behind to fight.

burs-cc/sm

Output: De facto Myanmar leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is coming under increasing international pressure after 87,000 refugees arrived in Bangladesh to escape fighting and persecution in Myanmar, according to the United Nations. The refugees, mostly women and children, are joining already overcrowded camps, with another 20,000 people waiting at the Bangladesh border, according to a UK report. Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has seen escalating violence since 2012, with no public comment on the latest round of fighting from Suu Kyi.


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Input:
Jackson Lee adds gadgets to its leisure product
 Gadgets have been added to the portfolio of products on its leisure insurance scheme.

Jackson Lee Underwriting has expanded its leisure insurance scheme to include gadget insurance.

Gadget insurance will be offered to brokers alongside its specialist leisure policies including caravan, cycle, camera and fishing.

The policy provides cover for up to three gadgets for breakdown, accidental damage and theft.

Sense

Nick Mohan, joint managing director for Jackson Lee Underwriting, commented: “Gadgets are increasingly excluded from many home insurance policies as a symptom of the

Output: London-based Jackson Lee Underwriting has added gadgets to its leisure insurance scheme, offering policies that cover breakdown, accidental damage and theft for up to three devices. "Leisure pursuits are ubiquitous… so it makes complete sense to be able to offer gadget alongside other specialist leisure policies like caravan and cycle. We expect this latest addition to our leisure scheme to prove very popular", said Nick Mohan, joint managing director for Jackson Lee Underwriting. Jackson Lee's specialist leisure policies are available on its online portal Abel.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Researchers discover algae that convert fats into hydrocarbons
 In France, researchers discovered that certain species of algae can convert fats directly to hydrocarbons that can come in handy for biofuel production. Using sunlight as an input and filtering the contents of algae to leave them with protein solutions with some cell contents, they tested them for how well they converted to fats. They found a set of 10 proteins that existed in all three fractions that were able to convert fats, but one of them was a mystery protein. Once they identified that mystery protein’s gene, they tweaked it and transferred it to bacteria where it converted fats to hydrocarbons. Interestingly, the reaction needed blue light to work and when they switched it to red light, the conversion process stopped. The discovery can lead to many applications that rely on algae fat conversion to hydrocarbons, like biofuel production.

Output: Researchers in France have stumbled across a mystery enzyme in algae which, when subjected to blue light, was able to convert fats to hydrocarbons. The team found protein solutions made up from the algae containing flavin adenine dinucleotide enabled the creation of hydrocarbons and opened up the possibility of a simple and cost-effective method of producing biofuels using algae and light. The team behind the research believe the enzyme can be modified to produce very different chemical reactions.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Researchers discover algae that convert fats into hydrocarbons
 It's pretty easy to grow vast quantities of microbes. It's a lot harder to convert those microbes into something useful. For example, we've engineered algae that, when starved for nitrogen, will put most of their stored energy into fats. Fats are chemically similar to hydrocarbons, so this is potentially useful for making biofuel. But "similar" isn't really good enough; you still need to process the fats before they can be used as a fuel.

But some researchers may have figured out a way to get biology to convert fats directly to hydrocarbons using nothing more than sunlight. They've identified an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of fats to long hydrocarbons, which could be used as fuel with no further modification.

Fat vs. fuel

Gasoline is a mixture of different hydrocarbons, which are molecules that contain only hydrogen and carbon. The simplest hydrocarbons are linear chains, with a backbone of carbon atoms where each carbon is linked to, at most, two others (with two or three hydrogen atoms also linked to each carbon). The chemical processing done in refineries ensures that gasoline mostly contains branched hydrocarbons, wherein some carbon atoms are linked to three or four other carbons.

Fats (technically fatty acids) are almost-but-not-quite hydrocarbons. They have long linear chains of carbon atoms, but one of the end carbons is linked to two oxygen atoms. While this may seem like a relatively minor change to a carbon chain that can be 20 or more atoms long, the presence of the oxygen radically changes the chemistry of the molecule. It makes fats more likely to form solids, allows them to mix with water, and turns them into weak acids. All of these properties make fats a terrible option for use in internal combustion engines.

The obvious solution is to simply lop off the terminal carbon that's linked to those oxygens. Unfortunately, from a chemistry standpoint, the link to that carbon is more robust than the other links further down the chain. In other words, most chemical reactions will simply break the chain somewhere at random in the middle, which is not especially useful. Alternatives for getting rid of the oxygens tend to involve multiple steps, each requiring an input of energy and an efficiency less than 100 percent.

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Note that the last sentence says "tend to" and not "always." Last year, French researchers discovered that certain species of algae are able to convert fats directly to hydrocarbons. Their new paper describes how they figured out why these algae are able to do so.

Let there be light

The conversion process was potentially interesting from a biology perspective as well. That's because it seemed to involve light as an input. Even though almost all life on Earth depends directly or indirectly on sunlight, remarkably few chemical reactions used by life require light as an input. A search of the literature showed a grand total of three reactions, two of which are used for photosynthesis (the third repairs damaged DNA). If the fat-converting process used light to provide energy, then it would be big news for biology.

To find out, the researchers in France did some old fashioned biochemistry. They took the algae, ground them up, and then ran their contents over a variety of different materials that filter those contents based on different chemical properties, like molecular weight, charge, etc. This left them with a variety of protein solutions, each containing a fraction of the cells' contents, ranging from dozens to hundreds of proteins.

The researchers tested each of these fractions for the fat-converting activity. In the end, they found three fractions that contained the activity: one with 42 proteins, one with 93 proteins, and one with 709 proteins. Each of these proteins was identified, and the researchers discovered that a set of 10 proteins were present in all three fractions. Nine of these proteins were well known, and we knew what they did. The 10th was a mystery, so the researchers focused on it.

They identified its gene and tweaked it so that it worked in bacteria. Once it was transferred to the bacteria, they were also able to convert fats to hydrocarbons. And the researchers could switch the conversion on and off by switching from red to blue light—the reaction required blue light to work. They also purified the protein and fed it fat which had had its carbon labelled with a specific isotope. This isotope showed up in carbon dioxide released by the reaction, confirming that the enzyme was simply lopping off the carbon bonded to the oxygen.

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How does the protein manage this trick, and why does it need light to do it? The blue light it uses turns out to be the wavelengths typically absorbed by a chemical called "flavin adenine dinucleotide" (FAD), which is commonly used as a co-factor in many biochemical reactions. And, when the researchers looked at the structure of the enzyme, they found that FAD is present and held in close proximity to the oxygens of the fat molecule.

The authors think that, in this enzyme, light causes FAD to steal an electron from the fat molecule, leaving it in an unstable state. The fat responds by kicking out a carbon and two oxygens, forming carbon dioxide, a process that's very energetically favorable. After that happens, the remaining hydrocarbon steals the electron back from the FAD, resetting the enzyme for use on another fat molecule.

So, because it uses light for energy, the system doesn't need to be supplied with a constant source of chemical energy. That makes it much more convenient for use in processing chemicals than other enzymes, where you typically have to keep refreshing a supply of a chemical energy source (like ATP). It also makes the newly discovered enzyme interesting, since there are so few other examples of light-driven enzymes out there to study.

Finally, the whole system works by light-driven electron transfers. And shifting electrons around is a central feature of a huge range of chemical reactions. This leads the authors to suggest that modifications to the enzyme could get it to catalyze very different chemical reactions. So biohackers could potentially have a field day generating new applications for this system.

Science, 2017. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan6349 (About DOIs).

Output: Researchers in France have stumbled across a mystery enzyme in algae which, when subjected to blue light, was able to convert fats to hydrocarbons. The team found protein solutions made up from the algae containing flavin adenine dinucleotide enabled the creation of hydrocarbons and opened up the possibility of a simple and cost-effective method of producing biofuels using algae and light. The team behind the research believe the enzyme can be modified to produce very different chemical reactions.


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Barclays' new DIY investment service hit by IT problems
 Barclays (LON:BARC) has been hit with a series of problems at its new DIY investment site, leaving many customers unable to log into their accounts, the Financial Times has disclosed. The website recently replaced the lender’s 30-year-old stockbroking service.

Barclays’ share price has fallen deep into the red this morning, having shed 0.91 percent to 190.40p as of 09:45 BST, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.15 percent lower at 7,427.20 points. The group’s shares have added just under 10 percent to their value over the past year, but have given up some 14 percent in the year-to-date.

The FT reported on Friday that Barclays had been hit with a series of problems at its new Smart Investor site, leaving many customers unable to log into their accounts and missing transactions. The FTSE 100 group shifted more than 200,000 customers with £14 billion of assets over the bank holiday weekend, from its traditional Barclays Stockbrokers unit, to the new website, designed to appeal to a broader range of customers.

The newspaper noted, however, that a number of customers had said that they had not received log-in details and were even missing transactions in their account. Customers suffered waiting times of up to an hour to reach Barclays’ customer services, and the bank was forced to turn off its live chat service to free up more staff to deal with the flood of calls.

Barclays explained that customers complaining of missing transactions were likely being affected by changes to limit orders — orders to buy and sell stocks at specific prices. The bank had told customers before the switch that any limit orders would not be carried over to the new system and would need to be re-entered.

The news comes as FTSE 100 peer RBS (LON:RBS) signalled that it will invest heavily in IT in an effort to improve reliability for customers, as well as stiffen its defences against hackers.

As of 10:01 BST, Monday, 04 September, Barclays share price is 190.75p.

Output: Customers have been locked out of Barclays Bank's new online DIY investment site, which was introduced last week to replace a 30-year-old stockbroking service. The glitch came as the bank moved 200,000 customers to the Smart Investor site, with many unable to log in and others being unable to perform transactions, according to a Financial Times report. When affected customers sought to contact Barclays, many were left waiting for up to an hour on hold as staff sought to handle the surge of complaints.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Tinder becomes top grossing iOS app with Gold launch
 Mobile dating app Tinder has had a solid affirmation of its monetisation efforts by becoming the top grossing App Store app following the global launch of its premium subscription service Gold.

Tinder Gold

The chart measures the top earning apps each day and weighs them accordingly. On top of this, App Annie has shared data showing that the app has been in the top 15 earners for the whole of the year on account of its 2015 service, Tinder Plus providing a solid revenue stream.

Output: The launch of its premium subscription service has earned mobile dating app Tinder the number one spot on the App Store's chart. Data from insights firm App Annie also revealed that Tinder has consistently been in the top 15 earners for the entire year. Tinder's Gold service, which costs £7.49 ($9.71) per month, offers extras including the ability to immediately match and message. The service recently launched on desktop.


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Half of output from Nigeria's largest power station is wasted
 Biggest Nigeria Power Plant Owed $352 Million by Government (1)

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Output: Nigeria's largest power plant, Egbin, is owed NGN125bn ($352m) by the Nigerian government, while an ineffective transmission infrastructure means half the plant's output is wasted, according to CEO Dallas Peavey. Out of the 1.3 GW of energy produced by the facility's units, 700 MW is lost due to the overwhelmed grid. According to Peavey, the company is facing financial difficulties as a result of the government's debt, resulting in banks being reluctant to make loans to the company. The Nigerian government has said the NGN125bn debt figure is incorrect.


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UK news publisher offers advertisers real-time readership data
 ESI Media, publisher of The Independent and the Evening Standard, is giving agencies access to data on its most popular articles in a bid to give advertisers more control over the ads they buy and to build deeper, longer-term relationships with them.

Once ESI Media grants access, the agencies can view a dashboard, ESI RealTime, of the publisher’s most popular articles across its portfolio, which also includes indy100 and Homes & Property. The dashboard pulls in Chartbeat data on the number of visitors to articles and dwell times, metrics that ESI Media, and other publishers, have used in their newsrooms for years. This can be sorted by publication, device, section (like travel, sport and business), location and referral. This way, a luxury advertiser can book ads against the most popular fashion articles that people in London are reading from social media.

An agency can make an inquiry about popular articles that meet an advertiser’s needs. A member of the ESI Media ad ops team then follows up on that request. Ads are booked across media and can be served direct or programmatically, so long as the advertiser’s request doesn’t clash with priority campaigns, like homepage or channel takeover.

“I would expect this to win us more business; I’m really bullish on that,” said Jo Holdaway, chief data officer at ESI Media, although she knows not everyone will use the dashboard to book. “It’s a point of difference to other media owners when it comes to long-term partners.”

Over the next few months, it’s running its first campaign with beer brand Kronenbourg and the brand’s agency Publicis, which requires a little more heavy lifting from the media owner. ESI Media analysts send the articles to ad buyers that are most likely to be read most and fall within the advertiser’s guidelines. Within two hours, the agency returns ad creative relevant to the article. Kronenbourg ads with relevant copy have run on articles about the eclipse and France’s president Emmanuel Macron. Currently, the brand is targeting the most popular articles around the football player transfer window.

A recent popular story about why Liverpool football club didn’t sell player Philippe Coutinho had 3,000 concurrent visitors who spent an average of 80 seconds with the article.

“The scale is not always huge, but the tightness of targeting is there,” said Holdaway. “If you book 2 million impressions across the top trending stories, I’d be surprised if you didn’t get that.” ESI Media’s properties have a total 23.5 million monthly unique visitors, out of a U.K. internet population of 50.5 million monthly unique visitors, according to comScore.

Articles about Brexit, Trump and sports events routinely do well, with Brexit content fetching average dwell times of about three minutes. Advertisers that don’t want ads to appear next to stories about terrorist attacks or other news stories can automatically de-list them. Because the ad buy is based on what people are reading, which isn’t necessarily predictable, it’s difficult for the publishers to give benchmarks or guarantees.

Holdaway couldn’t share figures on how well the ads were performing, as the campaign is still running. But she said early signs are encouraging, particularly the click-through rate on formats like its billboard and double MPU.

For now, only display ads are included in the available inventory, but in the next two months, the publisher hopes to include video pre-roll, too.

ESI Media’s tool should bring more flexibility to media buying. Campaigns like the one it’s running with Kronenbourg have a bespoke data element, which can help lead to longer-term relationships. “There’s been a halo effect beyond how the core product was designed,” said Holdaway.

Output: The publisher of the Independent and the Evening Standard, ESI Media, is offering advertising agencies access to measurement data on popular articles to help build deeper relationships with brands. Participating marketers can view a dashboard offering real-time metrics, enabling brands to create engaging content tailored to what readers are looking at. Beer brand Kronenbourg and its agency Publicis are among the first clients to use the service, with early results described as "encouraging". ESI Media's stable of publications receives 23.5 million monthly unique visitors, according to comScore.