Students at the centre of StudentAid BC upgrades

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2013AEIT0023-000354 Feb. 26, 2013

Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology ?

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Students at the centre of StudentAid BC upgrades

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VICTORIA Helping students manage their student loans and reducing wait times is the impetus for a $3.2-million system upgrade that is now underway at StudentAid BC.

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By March 2014, planned improvements will help students manage their accounts and access funds more quickly by allowing them to apply for a loan, confirm their enrolment and complete other important actions all online using improved e-services and new self-service tools. At the same time, further enhancements will provide institutions with enhanced e-services and self-service tools to speed up their access, decrease their workload, and ultimately reduce costs.

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Last year, StudentAid BC handled nearly 400,000 paper applications and forms. When fully implemented, the upgrades are expected to eliminate 90 per cent of the paper and significantly reduce wait times for student loan approval and funds disbursement.

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After government launched the new StudentAid BC website and mobile website last summer, students were asked how their experience with StudentAid BC could be made even better. They came up with some challenges:

???????? Provide more timely service, especially around helping them get funds faster.

???????? Make it easier to apply for loans with a fully electronic application process.

???????? Make it easier and quicker to find out the status of their account self-service anytime, anywhere.

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Providing a self-service student portal and eliminating paper will help streamline transactions and improve communication so students can get their funds more quickly, enabling them to focus on their studies.

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Quote:

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John Yap, Minister of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology

The improvements were making to StudentAid BC services demonstrate our continued commitment to support and enhance students post-secondary education experiences. We are putting students in the drivers seat, with more access and better support and service.

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As part of B.C.s Jobs Plan, we are working to build an increasingly skilled and highly educated workforce, one that is ready to meet current and future labour market demands. Improvements to StudentAid BC will help us achieve that goal.

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Lucia Heffelfinger Orser, director of external relations, UVic Students' Society

The planned improvements to modernize the delivery of the StudentAid BC program will enhance the user experience of students who apply for financial assistance. It is a good step towards staying current with student expectations. The Alliance of BC Students looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology to represent the voice of our membership during this project.

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Quick Facts:

???????? The Province is committed to helping qualified students get their education regardless of their personal financial circumstances.

???????? In the 2011-12 fiscal year, StudentAid BC provided financial assistance to over 66,000 B.C. students, who received over $750 million in student financial aid that helped them pay for tuition, fees, books and living costs. Taxpayers cover interest costs on government loans while a student is attending class and for six months after graduation.

???????? The 2011 Student Outcome Survey results show that 49 per cent of B.C. baccalaureate graduates reported some form of financial debt, with 36 per cent using government student loans. The median amount borrowed by baccalaureate graduates was $20,000.

???????? The 2011 survey of diploma, associate degree and certificate students in B.C. shows 50 per cent of respondents borrowed to finance their studies, with 25 per cent using a government student loan. The median amount borrowed by diploma, associate degree and certificate graduates was $9,000.

???????? In the 2011 survey year, graduates reported using 5.4 per cent of their income, on average, towards education debt repayment.

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Learn More:

???????? Find out how StudentAid BC can help you map your future: http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentaidbc/

???????? For details on the Diploma, Associate Degree, and Certificate Student Outcomes (DACSO) Survey visit: http://outcomes.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/DACSO/DACSOPublications/DACSOHighlights.aspx/

???????? Results from the Baccalaureate Graduate Survey can be found at: http://outcomes.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/BGS/BGSTupcReports.aspx/

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Media Contact: ?

Dan Gilmore Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology 250 952-6400 Dan.Gilmore@gov.bc.ca

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Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect

Source: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2013AEIT0023-000354.htm

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Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism," alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed.

His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London.

"It seems to me that it's pretty hard to understand how, when you see the Scuds falling on the innocent people of Aleppo, it is possible to take their notion that they are ready to have a dialogue very seriously," Kerry said.

He said U.S. President Barack Obama was evaluating more steps to "fulfill our obligation to innocent people," without giving details or saying whether Washington was reconsidering whether to arm the rebels, an option it has previously rejected.

"We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind," Kerry said.

Obama has carefully avoided deeper U.S. involvement in Syria, at the heart of a volatile Middle East, as he has withdrawn troops from Iraq and extracts them from Afghanistan.

Assad and his foes are locked in a bloody stalemate after nearly two years of combat, destruction and civilian suffering that threatens to destabilize neighboring countries.

Syria's Moualem said in Moscow that Damascus was ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it, even with those who have weapons in their hands "because we believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue."

"WAR AGAINST TERRORISM"

Russia's Itar-Tass, which reported his remarks, did not say if Moualem had attached any conditions for the dialogue.

"What's happening in Syria is a war against terrorism," the agency quoted him as saying. "We will strongly adhere to a peaceful course and continue to fight against terrorism."

Moaz Alkhatib, head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, told reporters in Cairo he had not been in touch with Damascus following Moualem's offer. "We have not been in contact yet, and we are waiting for communication with them," he said.

Syria's government and the political opposition have both suggested in recent weeks they are prepared for some contacts - softening their previous outright rejection of talks to resolve a conflict which has driven nearly a million Syrians out of the country and left millions more homeless and hungry.

The opposition says any solution must involve the removal of Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since 1970. Disparate rebel fighters, who do not answer to Alkhatib or other politicians in exile, insist Assad must go before any talks start.

Brigadier Selim Idris, a rebel military commander, told Al Arabiya television that a ceasefire, Assad's exit, and the trial of his security and military chiefs must precede any talks.

Damascus has rejected any preconditions and the two sides also differ on the location for any talks, with the opposition saying they should be abroad or in rebel-held parts of Syria, while the government says they must be in territory it controls.

"STATE COLLAPSE"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed alarm about events in Syria, which he said was at a crossroads.

"There are those who have set a course for further bloodshed and an escalation of conflict. This is fraught with the risk of the collapse of the Syrian state and society," he said.

"But there are also reasonable forces that increasingly acutely understand the need for the swiftest possible start of talks ... In these conditions the need for the Syrian leadership to continue to consistently advocate the start of dialogue, and not allow provocations to prevail, is strongly increasing."

Lavrov's warning that the Syrian state could founder appeared aimed to show that Russia is pressing Assad's government to seek a negotiated solution while continuing to lay much of the blame for the persistent violence on his opponents.

Russia has distanced itself from Assad and has stepped up its calls for dialogue as his prospects of retaining power have decreased, but insists that his exit must not be a precondition.

A deputy to Lavrov said the West had not matched Moscow's peace efforts. "Our Western partners ... have to some degree encouraged (the opposition) to continue the armed fight," Itar-Tass quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

The Syrian National Coalition said on Friday it was willing to negotiate a peace deal, but insisted Assad could not be party to it - a demand that the president looks sure to reject.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said Assad had told him he would complete his term in 2014 and then run for re-election.

International deadlock over how to bridge the political chasm between Assad and his opponents has allowed an increasingly sectarian conflict to rage on for 23 months.

Assad, announcing plans last month for a national dialogue, said it would exclude "traitors" and "puppets made by the West."

Kerry is to meet Lavrov in Berlin on Tuesday, but a senior U.S. official said he expected no breakthrough on Syria there.

The new secretary of state is also to meet Syrian opposition leaders at a "Friends of Syria" conference in Rome on Thursday.

The Syrian National Coalition said on Monday it would attend the Rome meeting, reversing a decision it made last week to stay away in protest at Syrian government missile strikes on Aleppo.

The change of mind came after Kerry called Alkhatib to urge him to attend.

"I want our friends in the Syrian opposition council to know we are not coming to Rome simply to talk. We're coming to Rome to make the decision about next steps," Kerry said earlier.

Following up on Kerry's call, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden phoned Alkhatib to welcome his decision to travel to Rome, stressing that the talks there would be an opportunity to consult on "ways to speed assistance to the opposition and support to the Syrian people," the White House said.

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Ayman Samir in Cairo, Arshad Mohammed and Mohammed Abbas in London and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alistair Lyon, Michael Roddy and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-ready-talk-armed-opposition-022558519.html

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Pirate Bay goes on the lam from Sweden, heads for safe harbor in Spain, Norway

Despite a recent effort to move its servers to the cloud, Pirate Bay will be moving its base out of Sweden thanks to recent legal pressure. The Swedish Pirate Party that hosted the torrent site has been feeling heat from the film and music industry-backed Swedish Rights Alliance, which gave it until today to cut ties in order to avoid a lawsuit. As a result, the site has moved its operations to servers in Spain and Norway hosted by Pirate Parties there, saying it's had a contingency plan in place for awhile to do so. Anway, if the embattled site has to keep criss-crossing the seas while fighting legal battles to stay afloat, it might make for another good documentary.

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Benedict to be called 'emeritus pope,' wear white

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Two pontiffs, both wearing white, both called "pope" and living a few yards from one another, with the same key aide serving them.

The Vatican's announcement Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "emeritus pope" in his retirement, be called "Your Holiness" and continue to wear the white cassock associated with the papacy has fueled concerns about potential conflicts arising from the peculiar reality now facing the Catholic Church: having one reigning and one retired pope.

Benedict's title and what he will wear have been a major source of speculation since the 85-year-old pontiff stunned the world and announced he would resign Thursday, the first pope to do so in 600 years.

There has been good reason why popes haven't stepped down in past centuries, given the possibility for divided allegiances and even schism. But the Vatican insists that while the situation created by Benedict's retirement is certainly unique, no major conflicts will arise.

"According to the evolution of Catholic doctrine and mentality, there is only one pope. Clearly it's a new situation, but I don't think there will be problems," Giovanni Maria Vian, the editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, said in an interview.

Critics aren't so sure. Some Vatican-based cardinals have privately grumbled that it will make it more difficult for the next pope with Benedict still around.

Swiss theologian Hans Kueng, Benedict's one-time colleague-turned-critic, went further: "With Benedict XVI, there is a risk of a shadow pope who has abdicated but can still indirectly exert influence," he told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine last week.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday that Benedict himself decided on his name and wardrobe in consultation with others, settling on "Your Holiness Benedict XVI" and either "emeritus pope" or "emeritus Roman pontiff."

Lombardi said he didn't know why Benedict had decided to drop his other main title: bishop of Rome.

In the two weeks since Benedict's resignation announcement, Vatican officials had suggested that Benedict would likely resume wearing the traditional black garb of a cleric and would use the title "emeritus bishop of Rome" to avoid creating confusion with the future pope.

Adding to the concern is that Benedict's trusted secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, will be serving both pontiffs ? living with Benedict at the monastery being converted for him inside Vatican grounds while keeping his day job as prefect of the new pope's household.

Asked about the potential for conflict, Lombardi was defensive, saying the decisions had been clearly reasoned and were likely chosen for the sake of simplicity.

"I believe it was well thought out," he said.

Benedict himself has made clear he is retiring to a lifetime of prayer and meditation "hidden from the world." However, he still will be very present in the tiny Vatican city-state, where his new home is right next door to the Vatican Radio transmission tower and has a lovely view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Kueng said it was a mistake for Gaenswein to serve both men and for Benedict to remain so close to the center of action.

"No priest likes it if his predecessor sits next to the rectory and watches everything he does," Kueng was quoted as saying in Der Spiegel. "And even for the bishop of Rome, it is not pleasant if his predecessor constantly has an eye on him."

However, others reasoned that Benedict's retirement plans and title were in keeping with those of other retired heads of state.

"I was somewhat surprised that Benedict would still be called 'His Holiness' and would wear white, but it's akin to the former U.S. presidents being addressed as 'Mr. President,'" said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit writer and editor. "It's a mark of respect for the former office he once held."

"Overall, I don't think that after the conclave there will be any doubt about who the pope is, or who is in charge," he said.

While Benedict will no longer wear his trademark red shoes, he has taken a liking to a pair of hand-crafted brown loafers made for him by artisans in Leon, Mexico, and given to him during his 2012 visit. He will wear those in retirement, Lombardi said.

Lombardi also elaborated on the College of Cardinals meetings that will take place after the papacy becomes vacant ? crucial gatherings in which cardinals will discuss the problems facing the church and set a date for the start of the conclave to elect Benedict's successor.

The first meeting isn't expected until Monday, Lombardi said, since the official convocation to cardinals to come to Rome will only go out on Friday ? the first day of what's known as the "sede vacante," or the vacancy between papacies.

In all, 115 cardinals under the age of 80 are expected in Rome for the conclave to vote on who should become the next pope. Two other eligible cardinals have already said they are not coming, one from Britain and another from Indonesia. Cardinals who are 80 and older can join the College meetings but won't participate in the conclave or vote.

Benedict has already given the cardinals the go-ahead to move up the start date of the conclave ? tossing out the traditional 15-day waiting period. But the cardinals won't be able to set a date until their official meetings begin Monday.

Lombardi also described Benedict's final 48 hours as pope: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various Vatican archives and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement.

On Wednesday, Benedict holds his final public general audience in St. Peter's Square ? an event that has already brought in 50,000 ticket requests. He won't greet visiting prelates or VIPs as he normally does, but will meet some visiting leaders ? from Slovakia, San Marino, Andorra and his native Bavaria ? privately afterward.

On Thursday, the pope meets with his cardinals in the morning and then flies by helicopter at 5 p.m. to Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence south of Rome. Benedict will greet parishioners there from the palazzo's balcony ? his final public act as pope.

Then, at 8 p.m., the exact time at which his retirement becomes official, the Swiss Guards standing outside the doors of the palazzo at Castel Gandolfo will go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church finished.

Benedict's personal security will be assured by Vatican police, Lombardi said.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/benedict-called-emeritus-pope-wear-white-195150170.html

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Lab instruments inside Curiosity eat Mars rock powder

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Two compact laboratories inside NASA's Mars rover Curiosity have ingested portions of the first sample of rock powder ever collected from the interior of a rock on Mars.

Curiosity science team members will use the laboratories to analyze the rock powder in the coming days and weeks.

The rover's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments received portions of the sample on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23, respectively, and began inspecting the powder.

"Data from the instruments have confirmed the deliveries," said Curiosity Mission Manager Jennifer Trosper of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The powder comes from Curiosity drilling into rock target "John Klein" on Feb. 8. One or more additional portions from the same initial sample may be delivered to the instruments as analysis proceeds.

During a two-year prime mission, researchers are using Curiosity's 10 science instruments to assess whether the study area in Gale Crater on Mars ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

More information about Curiosity is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/TFvKVl-JZCI/130225185603.htm

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Video: Video: King, Florio break down Brady's extension

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/50949304#50949304

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Virus shows promise as prostate cancer treatment

Feb. 25, 2013 ? A recombinant Newcastle disease virus kills all kinds of prostate cancer cells, including hormone-resistant cells, but leaves normal cells unscathed, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, as well as those associated with cancer chemotherapies generally, says corresponding author Subbiah Elankumaran of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg. The modified virus is now ready to be tested in preclinical animal models, and possibly in phase I human clinical trials.

Newcastle disease virus kills chickens, but does not harm humans. It is an oncolytic virus that hones in on tumors, and has shown promising results in a number of human clinical trials for various forms of cancer. However, successful treatments have required multiple injections of large quantities of virus, because in such trials the virus probably failed to reach solid tumors in sufficient quantities, and spread poorly within the tumors.

The researchers addressed this problem by modifying the virus's fusion protein. Fusion protein fuses the virus envelope to the cell membrane, enabling the virus to enter the host cell. These proteins are activated by being cleaved by any of a number of different cellular proteases. They modified the fusion protein in their construct such that it can be cleaved only by prostate specific antigen (which is a protease). That minimizes off-target losses, because these "retargeted" viruses interact only with prostate cancer cells, thus reducing the amount of virus needed for treatment.

Retargeted Newcastle disease virus has major potential advantages over other cancer therapies, says Elankumaran. First, its specificity for prostate cancer cells means it would not attack normal cells, thereby avoiding the various unpleasant side effects of conventional chemotherapies. In previous clinical trials, even with extremely large doses of naturally occurring strains, "only mild flu-like symptoms were seen in cancer patients," says Elankumaran. Second, it would provide a new treatment for hormone-refractory patients, without the side effects of testosterone suppression that result from hormonal treatments.

About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and one in 36 will die of this disease. Men whose prostate cancer becomes refractory to hormone treatment have a median survival of about 40 months if they have bone metastases, and 68 months if they do not have bone metastases.

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Journal Reference:

1. R. Shobana, S. K. Samal, S. Elankumaran. Prostate Specific Antigen Retargeted Recombinant Newcastle Disease Virus for Prostate Cancer Virotherapy. Journal of Virology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02394-12

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/ni3nR9kCRLw/130225153141.htm

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Government Has 13 Payment Guarantees for Energy Projects

A CPP lawmaker said on Thursday that the government has signed 13 payment guarantees to companies constructing coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams in the country, a move that an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official reiterated was risky for the country?s fiscal future.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the most recent payment guarantee approved by the National Assembly last Friday on the $781 million Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province is typical when any major company makes an investment in an energy project.

Other guarantees extended by the government include a 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province, the Kamchay dam in Kampot, the Stung Atai in Pursat and the Stung Tatai in Koh Kong, Mr. Yeap said.

?It is the government?s obligation to do a guaranteed payment for investment companies whenever Electricite du Cambodge [EdC] [might] miss a payment or don?t pay the bill,? Mr. Yeap said.

?Each project has been evaluated clearly about its ability to generate the power, so the energy produced will not be over the demand in our country,? he said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report last year that singled out the government?s energy generation expansion as an area where fiscal liabilities are not being fully considered in light of the government?s rapid push for power and their ?conservative forecasting scenarios? when providing ?take-or-pay guarantees? to underwrite power projects.

Peter Brimble, deputy country director of the ADB, echoed the IMF?s concerns that the government does not have the ability to properly assess the fu?ture risks of such large-scale projects.

?The government ought to be more involved in developing the project,? Mr. Brimble said. ?The Sesan [dam] and the other [energy projects] that have been carried out already?generally they have not followed a model of transpar?ency, they generally have been unsolicited bids, which means that a company is coming in to make a proposal, not with the government?opening it up to competitive bidding,? Mr. Brimble said.

However, he acknowledged that the government is under pressure in such areas.

?The need for power here is so great. It is the biggest single constraint here?. So I think there is significant pressure.?

According to the details of the payment guarantee and the implementation agreement be?tween the government and the two companies be?hind the Lower Sesan 2 dam?Kith Meng?s Royal Group and Chi?na?s Hydrolancang Inter?national Energy Co. Ltd.?the government will ?un?conditionally guarantee and promise without denial? the amount of mon?ey owed by EdC if the state-owned electricity body is unable to pay for the electricity that the dam gen?erates during the 45 years that the companies will operate the facility.

?All the electricity generated from the dam will be sold to Electricite du Cambodge,? the agreement states.

The Sesan dam is expected to pro?duce an average of 1.91 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which will be sold to the EdC at 6.95 cents per kilowatt hour, the agreement said. Any excess energy produced will be sold at a 60 percent reduction to EdC.

Oliver Hensengerth, a lecturer at Northumbria University in the U.K. and an expert in Chinese hydro?power investments in Southeast Asia, said that Cambodia?s blanket guarantees to private firms building dams could be a danger to the country?s debt sustainability.

?There seems to be a sense of ca?ter?ing to the needs of companies first, then paying attention to the po?tential implications of the investment,? Mr. Hensengerth said.

? 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

Source: http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-has-13-payment-guarantees-for-energy-projects-11377/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=government-has-13-payment-guarantees-for-energy-projects

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New Geothermal Data System Could Open Up Clean-Energy Reserves

Forgotten and filed away decades ago, millions of documents on geothermal research are now helping scientists to make harvesting the Earth?s energy affordable

By William Ferguson

Geothermal Power plants, like this one in Southwest Iceland, use super heated rocks to boil water into steam to turn electric turbines. Image: Flickr/ Chris Beckett

Geologic data does not come cheap, especially when you are using it to build a multimillion-dollar geothermal power plant. Just ask Susan Petty, president and chief technology officer at AltaRock Energy. Her company is part of a $43.8-million pilot project to tap thermal energy from Oregon's Newberry Volcano. Engineers are injecting water deep underground to fracture superheated rocks and create a geothermal reservoir. Their eventual goal is to recirculate pressurized steam back to the surface to test a new kind of technology called an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Unlike conventional power plants that rely on near-surface hydrothermal systems like springs and geysers, EGS can draw energy up to depths of three to five kilometers. Over the next 50 years, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates, EGS power plants could produce 100 gigawatts of economically viable geothermal energy, an amount equivalent to about 10 percent of the country's current electrical capacity.

Yet geothermal wells need to be drilled in the right place. Without data on the distribution and quantity of geothermal energy in the upper part of the earth's crust or a volcano as a reference point, wells may not produce much energy at all. To date, two to five out of every 10 geothermal wells prospected end up dry. Petty says that, in terms of the available exploration data, the geothermal industry is in the same place oil and gas companies were during the early 1900s. Wells cost between $2 million and $5 million, meaning geothermal investors risk losing millions on poor odds, Petty says. ?The risk involved in geothermal prospecting sets the industry apart from other renewables.?

The risky nature of the business could soon change, however.

A wealth of geologic data from all 50 states and the Gulf of Mexico has been sitting unused in state and federal filing cabinets for decades. The Arizona Geological Survey is leading a coalition of universities and federal agencies on a nationwide treasure hunt to find and digitize these legacy data in a National Geothermal Data System (NGDS) to eliminate some of the financial risk companies like AltaRock face while prospecting for geothermal resources. Since the project's inception in 2008 under $35-million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office, collaborators have digitized information from over 1.25 million oil and gas, water, and geothermal wells and expect to have as many as three million wells in the system by the end of the year.

"It has been a rescue mission," says Roland Horne, director of Stanford University?s geothermal program. Project collaborators have found a wellspring of geothermal exploratory data in basements and old file cabinets. The legacy data come from extensive surveys of geothermal resources that were funded by the states and federal government in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A prime example is a 1975-to-1992 DOE survey of geopressured resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The survey documents data from 16 wells off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas that show geopressured and geothermal energy reserves in the Gulf exceed the energy contained in all the conventional natural gas reserves of the continental U.S. At the time, the geothermal energy could not be profitably commercialized, so the data were filed away and forgotten.

Previously, getting ahold of geothermal exploration data depended on whom you knew, says Lee Allison, director of the Arizona State Geological Survey. "A lot of this stuff was only available if you knew the people and could say, 'Hey, let me have access to your data,'" Allison says. One of the largest sets of geophysical data in the NGDS was collected and digitized by Southern Methodist University geophysicist David Blackwell and a team of researchers in 2011. They worked under a grant from Google.org to digitize data from 35,000 different locations. Their work shows that geothermal energy can generate three million megawatts of renewable electricity?approximately 10 times the capacity of U.S. coal power plants.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1e710fca06a47acd62a7da5752d0798f

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