Fanfare greets innovative ship with kite propulsion system

Stephan Wrage, CEO of SkySails,
Niels Stolberg, CEO of Beluga
Shipping, Lutz Stratmann, Lower
Saxony Minister of Science and
Culture; Eva Luise Köhler, spouse
of the Federal President of
Germany, Gunnar Uldall,
Senator of Economics and
Labour, Hamburg
(photo: Beluga Shipping).

20 December 2007 The first ever full-scale cargo vessel with a wind-driven auxiliary propulsion system - “Beluga SkySails” - was launched on 15 December 2007 to great fanfare by the LIFE-Environment project WINTECC (LIFE06 ENV/D/000479). This ship represents a new era of wind propulsion for shipping with tremendous benefits to the environment.

Eva Köhler - the wife of the Federal German President and ‘godmother’ of the ship - christened the boat with a bottle of champagne in front of 320 guests and 100 newspaper, radio, and television journalists at the successful launch in Hamburg.

Demonstration of the kite
(photo: Beluga Shipping).

Mrs Köhler and some invited guests were given a tour of the ship and thanks to good wind conditions, the assembled crowd was treated to a demonstration of the kite system. Niels Stolberg, CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH, explained to the impressed audience: “You have to have the courage to try something new.”

The ship will soon undertake its maiden voyage with the new kite propulsion system to deliver cargo across the Atlantic. As well as less environmental damage from lower fuel consumption, the use of the kite is expected to reduce the costs of this crossing by around USD 6,000.

For more information on the project and the ship’s launch, visit the project’s website and read the project summary.

Watch a prize-winning film on bat conservation

Poster of the documentary
"Au rythme des chauves-souris"
(photo: LIFE04 NAT/FR/000080).

20 December 2007 A prize-winning film from the LIFE project “conservation of three cave-dwelling bats in southern France” (LIFE04 NAT/FR/000080) can now be seen here . The 31-minute film won the nature conservation prize at the 2007 International Ornithological Film Festival held in Menigoute, France.

The film tells the story of the LIFE-Nature project, which aimed to improve the conservation status of three endangered bat species: the Mediterranean horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale); the long−fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii); and Scheiber's bat (Miniopterus schreibersii). It captured their little-known night-time activities and recorded the activities of the project partners in working to improve their understanding of the animals’ behaviour to thus enable a better conservation of their natural habitat.

International Ornithological Film
Festival 2007 (photo: L. Petter).

The 23rd International Ornithological Film Festival was held at Ménigoute in France, from 30 October to 4 November 2007. The annual festival brings together leading figures in the art and film worlds who are dedicated to wildlife and the protection of the environment. Some 40 wildlife films from across the globe are shown at the festival and several prizes are handed out by a jury. The festival is also host to a nature forum, wildlife-focused art and photography exhibitions, debates on the protection of the environment and a range of children’s activities.

Animal & plant species: LIFE website thematic pages now published

17 December 2007 Nature experts, conservationists, NGOs, in fact anybody who is interested in animal and plant species can now find out about LIFE projects related to diverse and rare animal and plant species on a new section of the LIFE website.

This is the first sub-section under the "Nature, Biodiversity" theme to be published on the LIFE website and follows the publication of five other thematic pages covering Waste, Energy & Climate; Water; Air; and the Urban Environment & Quality of Life. Grouping together project descriptions, publications, videos and articles related to a specific theme, the thematic sections make it easier for researchers, nature and environmental scientists or any other interested parties to find information on the actions carried out under LIFE within their particular field.

Further thematic pages will be going online in the coming weeks!

LIFE projects presented as good practice at Horizon 2020 waste conference

The Horizon 2020 conference was
held in Marseille
(photo: Francois Delcueillerie)

14 December 2007 Two LIFE projects were presented as examples of good practice during the recent Horizon 2020 conference on solid waste management held in Marseille, France, organized by the European Commission. The event brought together 140 participants, mainly local authority representatives from more than 20 countries.

The LIFE-TCY project from Albania "Regional Agency for an integrated waste management" (LIFE03 TCY/AL/000002) created a regional waste planning agency in a Southern Mediterranean country. It showed how the management and planning capacity of local authorities in charge of waste management could be increased. It also raised the public’s awareness on environmental issues.

The Greek LIFE-Environment project "Promotion and Implementation of Systems for the Production of High Quality Compost from Biodegradable Household Waste separated at Source" (LIFE03 ENV/GR/000205) developed a new waste management system based on household sorting in the region of Attika. It increased the awareness of local authorities on the need for a domestic waste management strategy and showed the positive results of engaging households in actions of environmental protection.

The event discussed the particularities of waste in the Southern Mediterranean and possible improvements to waste management. It examined transferable examples of good practice such as the two LIFE projects. The European Commission expressed its intention to continue a dialogue and cooperation with countries in the Southern Mediterranean in improve the waste management situation and sustainable development of the region.

For more information about the conference please visit the website.

LIFE project wins environmental award in Luxembourg

Prize giving ceremony: Mr Soisson,
Mr Dennewald and Mr Winkin from
FEDIL, Mr Lux, Minister for the
Environment, Mr Stadler and
Mr Breuer from Kronospan
Luxembourg
(photo: LIFE05 ENV/L/000047)

12 December 2007 Kronospan Luxembourg has been awarded the environmental prize for industry 2007 by FEDIL, an association in Luxembourg that represents the construction and enterprise service sectors.

The FEDIL jury, which consisted of experts from the public and private sector, selected Kronospan for its LIFE project (LIFE05 ENV/L/000047) to construct new environmentally friendly Oriented Strand Board (OSB) panels.

The judges were impressed by the introduction of a new reference for the construction of OSB panels that integrates a new technology for drying wood. The project demonstrated a significant reduction in energy consumption and an improvement in the quality of the panels. 

Robert Dennewald, president of the FEDIL said that the quality of the projects considered for the award showed that environmental issues were a real concern for industry in Luxembourg.

For more information read the project summary or visit the beneficiary's website.

UFIPOLNET conference documents available

12 December 2007 Presentations given at the international UFIPOLNET conference in Dresden in October are now available to download as PDF files from the website. The conference presented the final results and report of UFIPOLNET LIFE project to operators of monitoring networks, authorities, epidemiologists, journalists, company representatives and other interested persons.

The UFIPOLNET project (LIFE04 ENV/DE/000054) aimed to demonstrate an affordable device for measuring ultra-fine particles in ambient air through testing in Stockholm, Dresden, Prague and Augsburg. It aimed to produce stable delivery of reliable data at one-fifth the cost of current devices to allow for a pan-European implementing network and support solutions to air quality problems.

To download the pdf files, please visit the project website.