Storing the sun's heat

The U.S. solar energy industry is poised for a major technological breakthrough, and Nevada is in a race with Arizona to be the first to take advantage of it.

The nation’s first commercial solar electricity generator using the holy grail of solar technology, particularly for the Southwest, will either be in Gila Bend, Ariz., or near Tonopah.

This is about more than a new source of electricity; it’s an economically viable heat storage capability that enables solar plants to produce power at night. If the Silver State wins the race to premiere a commercial solar heat storage plant, it would be another renewable energy “first” to crow about. It could help cement Nevada’s place as a world leader in the increasingly important industry.

The state is home to the nation’s first modern solar thermal plant, Nevada Solar One outside Boulder City, and the nation’s largest commercial-scale photovoltaic plant, Nellis Air Force Base’s 14-megawatt array. By the end of 2010, the state is expected to be home to the largest photovoltaic “thin film” array, Sempra’s Copper Mountain solar power plant outside Boulder City.

But competition for the next wave of solar plants is fierce, and every state wants its projects to outshine the rest. That’s because a reputation as a solar leader is expected to attract not only new large-scale solar development for a state, but also the more economically beneficial solar manufacturing sector. Manufacturing for the renewable energy industry has the potential to provide many more long-term jobs than construction and operation of renewable energy plants do. Most of the manufacturing is in California and Arizona.

The Crescent Dunes plant outside Tonopah would be another step toward more manufacturers setting up shop in Southern Nevada.

The introduction of the technology to be used at Crescent Dunes has the added significance of being more likely to produce energy that actually stays in Nevada. Exporting electricity from solar plants is controversial in a state that has little to gain from the industry other than short-term construction jobs.

Crescent Dunes is to be a cutting-edge operation, making electricity with Nevada’s solar resources for Nevadans. The plant is planned by California-based developer SolarReserve, which announced a deal this month to sell its 100 megawatts to NV Energy.

It will use giant mirrors to boil a saline mixture. The saline then turns to gas, turning a steam turbine that creates electricity. Excess molten saline is stored in heavily insulated tanks to generate more electricity later.

Thermal heat storage for solar plants was first tested in 1996 at an Energy Department and Southern California Edison project, Solar Two, in Barstow, Calif.

Solar Two showed that molten salt could be stored at high temperatures for days without losing more than a couple of degrees of heat. This allows solar plants to create energy virtually on demand, even after the sun sets, making them more attractive to utilities such as NV Energy that need reliable, consistent power through peak energy demand periods.

Most power from renewable energy is off and on. Wind turbines need wind, and solar power needs sunshine, with little to no clouds.

“You never know when they’re going to provide power,” says Tom Fair, renewable energy executive for NV Energy. “With storage you can run consistently at a certain level. For planning and working it into the grid, that’s important. Demand and supply for energy have to be balanced. With this technology, we won’t have to bring in another power supply as soon as the sun goes down.”

The technology is more useful to NV Energy and other Southwestern power companies than it is to those in other parts of the nation.

“Take California’s Pacific Gas & Electric — their customers have cooling breezes in the evening and may not need electrical cooling at night,” says Fred Morse, the Solar Energy Industry Association’s Concentrating Solar Power Division chairman, who also serves as the U.S. senior policy adviser to Abengoa Solar, the company that has a 280-megawatt solar heat storage project, Solana, planned for Gila Bend.

In parts of Arizona, as is true in Southern Nevada, air conditioners run through the hot summer nights. The peak energy use times are midday through late evening in summer and late evening through early morning in winter, making the areas well suited for the heat storage technology.

Like Crescent Dunes, Solana is scheduled for completion in 2013. Which plant will be finished first is hard to say.

The Crescent Dunes plant just completed the scoping process with the Bureau of Land Management, and plans for the plant are undergoing environmental evaluation. The plant is one of three solar projects in the state that the BLM granted “fast track” processing this week, but it could still take several months to complete the environmental impact statement.

Once that is completed, the environmental report must be made available to the public for 30 days for comment before the BLM decides whether to allow it. It would then take several months to build.

The Arizona plant is larger and expected to take longer to build, but the developers have permits. Construction could have begun, but the recession affected the developers’ ability to get financing.

“Everything is moving forward with Solana,” said Jenna Henry, spokeswoman for Arizona Power Service, a partner with Abengoa on the Solana project. “We expect to break ground in the first half of 2010. We’re just finalizing the financing, and we’ll get the ball rolling.”

NV Energy still has a few hurdles to clear before it could use Crescent Dunes power in Southern Nevada. The power purchase agreement with NV Energy has yet to be approved by the Public Utilities Commission, but the company will submit the contract for PUC review soon, Fair said.

There’s also the issue of actually getting the power from Crescent Dunes to Southern Nevada homes and businesses. The plant will be at the southern end of the Northern Nevada electrical grid. The state’s southern and northern grids don’t touch, so the only way to get the power between the two is to run it hundreds of miles through either California or Utah.

NV Energy’s vision of lighting the Strip with solar energy may hinge on the PUC signing off on the utility’s controversial plan to build a cross-state transmission line.

The OneNevada transmission line would allow renewable energy from the north’s geothermal, wind and solar plants to flow south to Las Vegas when demand is highest. And solar and natural gas-fired power can be sent north in winter, when Reno experiences higher demand.

The line is only controversial because a second privately funded line is planned for the same route. NV Energy’s line would cost more than $500 million and be funded by ratepayers.

If the PUC OKs it, NV Energy expects construction to be completed by the end of 2012, ahead of the anticipated completion of the Crescent Dunes plant.

Solar Power Generation Systems from Sopogy

Sopogy provides a total solution for renewable energy generation. The company utilizes a solar energy concentrator to increase energy production thereby, minimizing the costs. Thermal energy is generated using a concentrated MicroCSP. It generates working fluids of high temperature to drive thermal driven engines or organic rankine cycle power blocks.

Sopogy Solar Power Generation System

The solar power generation systems include photovoltaic, wind energy and conventional non-renewable fuel power plants, which use natural gas, coal or nuclear energy. The concentrated solar power parabolic trough technology utilizes an emission-free fuel source compared to the non-renewable technology. The conventional fixed PV panels, in general, have a 15% energy conversion efficiency. But solar thermal plants using MicroCSP can change the sun�s energy into heat through the parabolic solar concentrators. This heat energy can be used in an organic rankine cycle system or conventional steam-fired power plant to generate electricity.

Solar PV technology is suited for commercial and residential roof-tops, while solar thermal is suited for large-scale and centralized energy generation in the megawatt. Thermal energy storage can be utilized as a buffer and can extend or shift hours of power generation to match the structures of local utility peak prices. The solar power generation from Sopogy has a direct solar radiation capacity of 850W/m2. Its average output is 0.512kW per panel. The panel has a length of 12ft width of 5ft and has a centre to centre spacing of 8.5ft. The daily output of the panel is 2.56kWh and the annual output is 934kWh.

Source: http://www.sopogy.com

Published Date: 31/12/2009

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Renewable energies a growing segment of power picture

The sunny skies of western Colorado and eastern Utah along Energy Alley are a powerful source of energy awaiting capture.

Heat trapped underground, likewise, is waiting to be turned to use on the surface.

Renewable-energy advocates also are looking anew at the energy generated when water runs downhill and when the wind blows.

From a proposed solar generation site in Green River, Utah, to a multisource energy park in Rifle, governments, utilities, entrepreneurs and some individuals are testing new methods of heating and lighting buildings and tapping into the electrical grid to sell, not use, electricity.

Grand Junction, according to Tourism-Review.com, is the seventh-sunniest city in the United States, and Mesa State College says it will rely heavily on the city’s 300 sunny days a year to generate solar power.

The college has two solar-panel arrays, one on the new science building and one on the new North Avenue residence hall. A third array is to be constructed as part of the expansion of Saunders Fieldhouse. In all, those panels are to generate 130 kilowatts of electricity, and the college’s two-year plan includes generating an additional 1.2 megawatts of solar power.

Solar power is at the heart of a test at the Cameo Station in De Beque Canyon. The coal-fired power plant is to be closed, but before that happens, Xcel Energy will test a 1-megawatt, concentrating-solar, power plant at the location.

The idea is to use the power of the sun to heat water, so less coal is needed to turn it to steam and spin the turbines that produce electricity.

The test will extend the life of the Cameo Station by a year, but the entire facility will shut down when the test is complete.

Ute Water in Grand Junction and Delta-Montrose Electric Association each are looking to generate electricity from falls within water-delivery systems.

Ute filed a draft application in October with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking to install a 610-kilowatt generator on its raw water line leading into its treatment plant near Palisade.

The generator would produce enough electricity to operate the water-treatment plant, and any excess electricity would be sold to Xcel Energy, Joe Burtard of Ute Water said.

If the federal agency approves the application, Ute will order the turbine generator and begin construction with an eye toward putting the generator online in late 2011 or early 2012.

Delta-Montrose Electric Association, meanwhile, is applying to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to generate electricity as water diverted from the Gunnison River leaves the Gunnison Tunnel and falls to the South Canal.

The $30 million project would supply 6 megawatts of power on a seasonal basis. The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users don’t divert in the winter.

Still, it could generate up to 5 percent of the association’s current annual needs and be particularly helpful in meeting peak summertime needs, according Jim Heneghan, renewable-energy engineer for the association.

The idea has been around for years, Heneghan said, but it wasn’t until recently that it made economic sense.

“Now feasibility reports show it can produce power at or less than the cost to pay for itself,” Heneghan said. “In that respect, we couldn’t pass it up.”

At the far east end of the Grand Valley, meanwhile, a tower nearly 150 feet high is gathering information that could eventually attract a company to build a wind farm above Palisade that would catch the breeze from De Beque Canyon.

Wazee Energy of Denver will decide next year whether to install three other test towers, which it would monitor for three years before deciding whether to build a wind farm on the site.

The Bureau of Land Management then would conduct an environmental review, which would include an opportunity for public comment.

The entire process could take three or four years, BLM spokeswoman Erin Curtis said.

Email GARY HARMON

Are Engines the Future of Solar Power?

Nearly 200 years after their invention, and decades after first being proposed as a method of harnessing solar energy, 60 sun-powered Stirling engines are about to begin generating electricity outside Phoenix, Ariz., for the first time. Such engines, which harness heat to expand a gas and drive pistons, are not used widely today other than in pacemakers and long-distance robotic spacecraft.

The 1.5 megawatt (MW) demonstration site, known as Maricopa Solar, is set to begin operations early January 2010, with units provided by the Arizona-based Stirling Energy Systems (SES). While 1.5 MW is only a fraction of the power that may be generated at sites SES has contracted to develop in California and Texas, spokesperson Janette Coates says this is a necessary first step in the technology’s commercialization. “It’s important for our industry to see—and our partners and investors—that we can take a small-scale plant and get it operational before we break ground on larger ones,” she says.

That's because Stirling heat engines have a reputation for being a bit impractical. First invented by Robert Stirling in 1816, the engines use a heat source to warm gas, which expands and is pushed into another chamber. When the gas cools and contracts, it flows back. The expansion and contraction pushes a piston, which in turn produces electricity.

In 1996, SES bought solar Stirling design and engineering patents from companies such as McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing. SES then partnered with Sandia National Laboratories, and over the next decade tweaked and refined the technology. In the SES SunCatcher, a circle of curved mirrors, resembling an upturned satellite dish, tracks the sun on two axes and reflects the sun’s heat onto a single focus point, the power conversion unit (PCU). The PCU contains four cylinders, in which hydrogen gas expands and contracts to move pistons.

Stirling engines are significantly more efficient at converting sunlight into energy than most photovoltaic panels or concentrating solar power plants, whether parabolic trough or tower designs. The test units have reached 31 percent efficiency, compared to 16 percent for parabolic troughs and about 14-18 percent for PV panels in use today (though newer designs not yet on the market range from 24 to as high as 41 percent). The high efficiency numbers alone, however, have not made Stirling an easy sell. The systems have been criticized as being too expensive, unreliable and requiring extensive maintenance thanks to many moving parts. Also, ground has not yet been broken on either California site for which SES signed purchase power agreements in 2005, adding to skepticism that these systems will ever become commercially viable.

“At these high temperatures, with this many moving parts, people doubted whether SES could really pull it off,” says Reese Tisdale, research director for solar power at Cambridge, Mass.-based Emerging Energy Research. The relatively small Arizona plant is intended to allay those concerns.

Proponents of the technology point to the advantages it has over other forms of solar power, particularly concentrating solar power (CSP), which also captures the sun’s heat. Most CSP systems require significant amounts of water, which has proven to be a challenge in desert regions of the U.S. where solar power is most attractive, while Stirling engines require none other than small amounts for cleaning the mirrors. In addition, if one engine goes down, it has minimal impact on overall production.

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Public option may be dropped from final health care bill

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Washington (CNN) -- House Democrats are signaling that a final health care bill will drop the government-run public health insurance option favored by liberals but rejected by conservatives from both parties.

A House-Senate conference committee will begin negotiations next month on merging health care bills passed by the Democratic majorities in each chamber.

However, voting in both chambers was extremely close, raising concerns that a compromise might fail to win the necessary final approval.

One of the main differences between the two measures is the public option. The House bill contains the public option as a competitor to private insurers in a national heath insurance exchange open to people now unable to get coverage, but the Senate version lacks a public option.

President Obama, who has made health care reform his top domestic priority this year, has expressed general support for a public option but stops short of insisting on the provision.

Liberal Democrats in the House have said they want to keep the public option, but one of their leaders -- Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the chamber's third-ranking Democrat -- said Sunday that he could vote for a bill without the government insurance plan.

"We want a public option to do basically three things: create more choice for insurers, create more competition for insurance companies and to contain costs," Clyburn said on the CBS program "Face the Nation." "So if we can come up with a process by which these three things can be done, then I'm all for it. Whether or not we label it a public option or not is of no consequence."

The Senate health care bill required the support of all 60 members of the Democratic caucus to overcome a Republican filibuster. Such precarious support allowed individual moderates in the Democratic caucus to wield major influence on the bill, with at least two -- Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- saying they would oppose the measure if it contained the public option.

On Sunday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, acknowledged the reality of the Senate politics. Asked on "Fox News Sunday" about the public option, Van Hollen said, "It's not dead, but we also recognize that the Senate was able to just muster the 60 votes."

The House could drop the public option if "there are other mechanisms in whatever bill comes out that will keep down premiums," Van Hollen said.

Supporters of a public option say it would provide nonprofit competition to private insurers that would bring down costs, but opponents contend that it is the first step toward a government takeover of the health care system.

In place of a public option, the Senate bill includes a provision allowing private insurers to offer nonprofit coverage overseen by a government agency.

Both the House and Senate bills would permit the creation of nonprofit private insurance cooperatives to increase competition.

Reshuffle on the cards

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is considering reshuffling his cabinet following the resignation of Witthaya Kaewparadai as public health minister over alleged irregularities involving the economic stimulus scheme.

Myresignation is to acknowledge public sentiment, not my guilt, because the budget has not been disbursed—not one baht. - WITTHAYA KAEWPARADAI PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER

Mr Abhisit yesterday confirmed he would call a meeting of Democrat Party executives early next week to discuss the possibility of a reshuffle.

It is widely speculated that Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, who is in charge of economic affairs and oversaw another economic stimulus package, the Community Sufficiency Project, before the Democrats were saddled with corruption charges involving the project, would be replaced.

Mr Korbsak is expected to be offered the position of secretary-general to the prime minister. His cabinet post would be filled by Trairong Suwannakhiri, a party source said.

Mr Abhisit said Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee of the Bhumjaithai Party was expected to announce his resignation today.

Mr Manit appeared to be uncomfortable at yesterday's cabinet meeting and had little to say.

Mr Witthaya, a Democrat, and Mr Manit are among 11 people - four politicians and seven officials - named by a government-appointed committee chaired by former deputy health permanent secretary Banlu Siripanich in connection with alleged budget iregularities and flawed management at the Public Health Ministry.

The suspected irregularities involve the ministry's implementation of the Thai Khem Khaeng scheme.

The committee found the 11 people named had behaved suspiciously and were negligent in implementing the ministry's massive procurement plans.

Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee, right, inspects equipment on a helicopter at the Royal Thai Police Aviation Department. Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai, inset, announces his resignation. WEERAWONG WONGPREEDEE AND APICHIT JINAKUL

Mr Abhisit yesterday applauded Mr Witthaya's decision to resign from his position. He said it showed a sense of responsibility. But he also urged the public not to judge Mr Witthaya.

"I told all cabinet ministers to learn from what has happened at the Public Health Ministry," he said.

"They should pay careful attention and solve the problems as quickly as possible if a similar problem occurs because society needs them to take responsibility."

The prime minister declined to say if the allegations against Mr Witthaya and Mr Manit would tarnish the image of the Democrat-led coalition.

The prime minister said Mr Witthaya's resignation was in line with his "nine iron rules" which he declared on taking office in December last year as applying to his government ministers.

Among these are his requirement that all ministers perform their duties with honesty; that they be sensitive to public sentiment in their actions; and that they avoid doing anything that might undermine public confidence in the government.

"The resignation is to show the innocence of the accused and let the investigation move on," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart has been assigned to head the Public Health Ministry.

Mr Witthaya's resignation came as a surprise. On Monday he cast doubt on the committee's findings and insisted there was no corruption.

"The prime minister asked me what actions I will take," Mr Witthaya said. He announced his resignation after a meeting with Mr Abhisit.

"I told him that I don't want to be a burden to the prime minister and to the nation. My resignation is to acknowledge public sentiment, not my guilt, because the budget has not been disbursed - not one baht."

The minister said he would hand in his resignation letter today.

A source close to Mr Witthaya said the public health minister opted to resign to avoid the issue being politicised.

Mr Witthaya said he would give his full cooperation to the inquiry and asked the prime minister to immediately set up another committee to look into the allegations.

Meanwhile, several public health officials implicated by the Banlu panel yesterday shook their heads in disbelief, saying the findings were unfair.

Rewat Wisarutdej, director of the Medical Science Department, said he had answered questions involving the medical supply procurement schemes.

"I was there three hours giving information. A deputy director spent three hours and the director of the Cancer Institute spent another five hours doing the same thing," he said.

"We thought the committee had a clear understanding. Obviously it doesn't."

Permanent secretary for public health Paijit Warachit yesterday said he would seek a meeting with Mr Abhisit to clarify the allegations and discuss a review of the scheme.

Dr Paijit has been found negligent in his duty in his capacity as a deputy permanent secretary implementing the ministry's Thai Khem Khaeng scheme.

5 reasons the H1N1 flu is actually good for us

While we’re talking about public demand, let’s consider its impact, because that's positive outcome No. 3: Public demand for vaccine is up this year — way up. Right now that means news reports of “shortages” as vaccine supply continues to roll out. But if we can sustain increased demand, we will achieve several important goals: We will protect more people through direct vaccination, we will protect more people by protecting those around them, we will keep more adults at work and more kids at school and we help ensure a better supply for the future.

Increased demand means increased supply. If the public accepts more vaccine, you can bet that the private sector will make it. For good or bad, that’s how our economic system works.  Dr. William Schaffner is president-elect of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.The law of supply and demand means manufacturers won’t make more product than they can sell — how can they justify spending on products to throw them away? It’s an American business standard; it works this way across all industries — cars, houses, clothes and yes, even vaccines.

Manufacturers responded quicklyBut for the record, here’s positive No. 4: While manufacturers are private enterprises that need to consider profits, they’ve shown great flexibility and willingness to alter their plans and work to achieve goals established by our public health leaders. Companies readied themselves to switch from seasonal to pandemic vaccine production in the late spring and then made the change virtually overnight when asked to do so.

Manufacturers started the H1N1 process in May and vaccine delivery began in October. We all wish we could have as much vaccine as we need on the shelves the moment we need it. But in the case of vaccines, it doesn’t work that way.

Vaccines start from live material — viruses and bacteria that cause us great harm. It takes time to grow these live materials and then to render them incapable of causing any harm themselves. As a result, vaccines are probably the most well-tested and safest medical intervention we have. And to date, they're the only intervention that has led to complete elimination of a disease from the planet. (It's smallpox, in case the ailment doesn’t immediately come to mind).

While I could go on for a while with the positives, here is my last one, positive No. 5: Flu awareness has increased. The Department of Education has asked schools to participate in vaccination programs for our children. This is a tough task for our overburdened schools, but all indications are that they’re doing everything they can to be part of the effort. And that’s good because this particular pandemic flu can hit kids hard. But we also need to remember that seasonal flu also hits kids hard. School-aged children have the highest infection rates and infants and toddlers are hospitalized at rates similar to the elderly because of influenza.

Charlie Sheen's wife says he threatened to have her killed

(CNN) -- Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke Mueller claims that the actor pinned her to a bed, held a knife to her throat and threatened to have her killed, according to her statement to Aspen County police.

"I have ex-police I can hire who know how to get the job done, and they won't leave any trace," Mueller alleges Sheen said to her as he held her down with a knife, according to an affidavit released by the Aspen Police Department.

After the incident that led to Sheen's Christmas Day arrest, Mueller told police she had told Sheen she wanted a divorce and would get custody of their two children. Mueller said he became enraged, straddling her, grabbing her by the neck and held a knife to her throat, threatening to kill her. The report notes red marks on Mueller's neck.

In his statement to police Officer Rick Magnuson, Sheen, identified in police documents by his birth name, Carlos Irwin Estevez, denies threatening Mueller with a knife or strangling her. He said he and Mueller had been having marital problems lately and that his wife had a problem with alcohol.

Sheen told police that the argument with his wife began at 3:30 am on Christmas morning and was instigated after Mueller became upset about a song that Sheen sang with his daughter from his second marriage to actress Denise Richards. Sheen said Mueller is jealous of his relationship with his daughter.

The actor claims that Mueller threatened to divorce him. He said he was upset by these threats because of his previous history.

Sheen admitted to officers that he and his wife had slapped each other on the arms. He said he snapped two pairs of her eyeglasses in front of her. Police said they identified the knife that Mueller claimed she had been threatened with. The folding, 4-inch knife was locked in the open position and found in Sheen's travel bag.

Sheen was charged with assault, menacing with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. He posted $8,500 bond and was released.

Ren Ci show is back

Taking part in the Jan 24 show will be (back row, from left) Kym Ng, Michelle Chia and Constance Song, together with (front, from left) Desmond Koh, Zoe Tay, Guo Liang and Michelle Chong. The event will be minus controversial, daring stunts of previous years. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

THE Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre, which could end the financial year $10 million in the red, is reviving its TV fund-raiser next month to improve its finances.

The Jan 24 show - minus the daredevil stunts - will be the charity's first since 2007, when news broke that the authorities were looking into financial irregularities.

The probe ended last month with Ren Ci's former chief, Buddhist monk Ming Yi, being sentenced to 10 months' jail for misappropriating $50,000 and lying to the Commissioner of Charities.

But the case is not over, as Ming Yi is appealing against his conviction and jail term.

Before the scandal, Ren Ci collected $16 million in donations in its 2006 financial year, but donations have since dried up.

In its last financial year, which ended in March, it collected $3.1 million.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

theresat@sph.com.sg

Singapore Idol finale – the cheers, the tears and what you didn't see on TV

Posted at 12:15 pm under Music, TV shows, Uncategorized

Your Showbiz Sista and Abang bring you the low down of the run down that was the Singapore Idol grand finale.

7.50pm. We arrive at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and we’re greeted by two people carrying boxes of light sticks. “Are you a Sylvia or Sezairi fan?” asks the lady, who tells me that if I’m a Sylvia supporter, I get a pink light stick, if I’m a Sezairi fan I get a cyan one. I haven’t decided, I tell her, can I get both? She looks at me, then says, “If you support Sylvia…” Score one for intransigence then.

Sezairi supporters (in cyan) and Sylvia fans (in pink)

Meanwhile, on stage, The Muttons from 987FM – Vernon and Justin – and some dude named Matt fluffing up the crowd, telling them to things like  “when the Idols come out don’t forget to SCREAM!” or “make some NOISE!” or words to that effect. Apparently, screaming, making some noise is a must for the night. Interestingly, all three of them seem to be screaming too. Did somebody tell them they already have mics?

8.00pm. Cue opening credits. And on cue, the crowd screams.

8.03pm. This year’s Idol contestants appear. And on cue, the crowd screams. They sing songs by The Black Eyed Peas. The crowd screams. They stop singing and point their fingers into the air. The crowd screams.

8.08pm. Idol host Gurmit Singh appears. The crowd screams. “Somebody SCREAM!” he says. They oblige.

He then goes into his opening banter, and asks Idol judge Ken Lim what he thinks of the two finalists. “I won’t deny that I prefer Tabitha (Nauser) for commercial reason,” replies the deadpan judge. Good one, Ken, way to give their confidence. Somebody shouts, “That’s bullshit!”

The Idol contestants make their point

Unperturbed, Ken carries on: “Sylvia is our very first female finalist. Many say females cannot beat the males. To get here, she had to beat thousands of males.” That same person shouts, “I love you Ken!”. Ah…

8.16pm. The fluffer aka the guy called Matt appears and gets the crowd to scream. Oh look! Someone is jumping when Malaque’s name is mentioned. There’s one Malaque fan!

8.22pm. Sylvia comes on to perform Mercy, backed by some dancers looking like they stepped straight out of Thank Your Lucky Stars.

The judges comment. “That’s a song that identifies you,” says Dick. Funny, I thought it identified Duffy. “You did it a million million times better, continues Dick. “You made my dream come true.” Ken says: “You will have to motivate your supporters to vote for you”. Uh-oh! Warning! Warning! Read: Sezairi will win.

Then we go to another commercial break and the Muttons come back on. They exhort the audience in very loud voices to make more noise. Really, someone should tell Vernon and Justin they don’t need to scream because they have mics.

Hady Mirza with Sezairi (left) and Stitch at the results show

Then Sezairi’s mum is given the chance to speak. In a quiet voice (note), she thanks her son’s fans for wearing green (although many wear what’s actually cyan, but hey, it’s the thought that counts).

8.32pm. It’s Sezairi’s turn. In the video prior to his set, his band gives him props. One of them says he’d predicted Sezairi would be in the finals. I must ask them to predict my 4-D numbers next week.

Looking dapper, he sings Virtual Insanity. Some guy, obviously a Sylvia fan, looks dumbstruck. Either he’s very into it or he’s very bored. Ken says, “You were not a copycat.” (Wait, is he implying what I think he’s implying?)

Girls of Idols past revisit

Then Sezairi’s dad is given a chance to speak. He too, thanks his son’s supporters and gives props. Doesn’t Sezairi look like him? “I’ve never heard him say so much!” jokes Gurmit, who then proceeds to forget to give the call-in numbers for Sezairi.

Then it’s commercial break again. Matt comes on to tell people to – wait for it – scream as loud as they can. They should, because the way Matt and the Muttons are screaming (and they have mics), nobody else can be heard.

8.43pm. Back from break, and Sylvia is up again, singing Yellow by Coldplay. In case you didn’t get it, she’s dressed in yellow, the lights are yellow. After her performance, her brother Timothy is asked to say something. We can’t hear what he says, but Sylvia looks choked up. Awww…..

8.53pm. Sezairi is  back on, singing Aerosmith’s Crazy, and playing his Gibson ES 335 semi-hollow electric guitar in cherry red. It’s a nice guitar. It’s the kind of guitar that I would like to have. Note to self: Ask Sezairi if he will lend the guitar to me. When he stops singing, the crowd … screams!

We go to commercial break. The Muttons come back on. And yes, they get people to scream.

9pm. Sylvia is singing Touched By An Angel, a song written especially for the finals by none other than Ken Lim. It’s a touching, emotional number. Who knew Ken the Gruffmeister had it in him? Sylvia pulls out all the stops and really blasts the song into the stratosphere. Dick says she’s a real diva (in a good way). Florence asks her why she should win. I can’t really hear her response because the guy behind me picks that time to use his clappers. The crowd screams!

Judge not, lest ye be caught yawning on camera

Then Sezairi comes on and does his version which doesn’t impress. Until he his that one note that seems to have come from the stratosphere. The crowd screams!  The judges give their comments. “Musically, both of you are very different.” Really? Wow. “Singapore should be happy with your or Sylvia.” Right. Florence asks him why he should win. Because I didn’t hear Sylvia’s reply, I elect not to listen to Sezairi’s reply too. Hey, fair’s fair.

9.30pm. Cut to news break. Tabitha comes on to sing Ain’t Nobody. Faizal comes on to sing I’m Yours. Somebody else does something else but by that time we’ve already gone off to the function room for drinks (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Ice Lemon Tea, Green Tea, Coke Light) and food (chocolate eclairs, mee siam, etc, etc, etc). Hey, reporters get hungry too okay?

There are some people but they all refuse to say who they want to win. Instead we get answers like “it’s a close fight” or “both are really good” or “Here’s your drink, sir”.

The Idols do a lot of pointing don’t they?

10pm. We’re back. Gurmit is telling the audience that it’s results show time, but first more performances. Like Duane, in a yellow cheerleading outfit, singing Mickey by Toni Basil. After seeing that, I can’t remember what the rest did. That’s an image that stays with you for quite a while.

Then, because there are apparently so many contestants who are musically gifted, they have formed an “Idol band”. With Sezairi and Charles Wong on guitar, they back Hady Mirza, erstwhile Idol winner, on his song I’ll Never Leave, taken from his new album. Then they’re joined by MJ Kuok and Duane on keyboards. I’m so surprised to see MJ that I don’t even know what song they’re singing. I’m even more surprised I remember him. No, seriously, what’s he doing here?

From the judges POV

Then they get previous Idol contestants Paul Towhill and Joakim Gomez to join Faizal and Farhan as they sing Back For Good. This is turning into retro night, as the girls come on to sing Free Your Mind.

10.33pm. As we go to break, they get this girl called Charice to come on. We know a couple of things about her: She’s from the Philippines, she’s smaller than any of the other people on stage, but she’s got a bigger voice and she’s appeared on Oprah and Ellen. The Muttons interview her, but before she can say two sentences, she gets cut off because we’re coming back from break in 5-4-3-2-. “Well that was quite short,” she says.

Little girl, big voice

Gurmit introduces Charice and she proceeds to blow everyone else away with her powerhouse vocals, singing two Whitney Houston numbers. I’d vote for her.

The crowd screams. Gurmit is screaming at the end of the performance too (someone forgot to tell him that he had a mic). She looks at him like, “dude, what are you on?” but still agrees to sing one more song, something about a note to God. I don’t know. I’m still too stunned.

Taufik Batisah groovin’ it

10.42pm. Taufik Batisah comes on singing his own tune, Addicted. Someone behind me goes, “Wah, lucky Taufik has got some dance moves, otherwise sure cannot beat that small girl.” I didn’t even know he was competing.

10.50pm. It’s time folks to announce the winner. But before that, a warning goes out to the audience to not stand so close to the confetti machines, otherwise you could get seriously hurt. By confetti. We’re not joking.

10.53pm. Gurmit is looking very serious. Or tired. We can’t tell. He says he will announce the winner, then looks off into space. Like dude, what are you on? Everybody goes into a hush. For once.

10.55pm. After what seems like an eternity, Gurmit finally announces the winner: It’s SEZAAIIIIRIII!!!!! SOMEBODY SCREEEEEAM!!!!! They oblige. I have tissue in my ears.

Sezairi looks flabbergasted. Sylvia looks like she’s about to cry. Awww….

Sezairi sings Touched By An Angel and is joined by the other contestants. There is much hugging and swaying. Sylvia’s dad and mum bring a bouquet for their daughter. Her dad is magnanimous in defeat. “It’s all right,” he says.

Sezairi’s dad is vocal in victory. “I believe they are both equal,” he says, and proceeds to thank the fans for their support, before saying that he’s very happy. “I’m proud of you, Sezairi!” he shouts.

And then it’s over. The show is over. We rush off to the function to prepare for the interviews – and sip some wine and masticate. Hey, don’t waste food, right?

11.40pm. Sezairi and Sylvia finally appear. What took them so long? They’re still wearing the same outfits, what! Incidentally, it makes them look like a wedding couple. Ooh, some vicious rumours could start from there… I make a note of it.

The Muttons go onstage. I put tissue in my ears. They talk a bit. They toast the winner. And then it’s time for press interviews… All that, and more in our next post!

The happy couple, er, Singapore Idol Seraizi (right) and runner-up Sylvia

Tags: Charles 'Stitch' Wong, Dick Lee, Duane Ho, Florence Lian, Gurmit Singh, Hady Mirza, Ken Lim, MJ Kuok, Sezairi Sezali, Singapore Idol, Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sylvia Ratonel, Taufik Batisah

Ian Bell displaying lower middle class at No 6 with return to top Test form

“I knew I was under the pump a little bit,” he said. “I needed an innings to save my place, there’s no doubt about that. It’s very pleasing — I felt pretty fluid all the way through my innings. It’s nice to take some of my form in the nets out to the middle. It’s helped give us enough scoreboard pressure to go out and take some wickets.”

Apart from the winning position into which England have so adeptly manoeuvred, the most gratifying aspect of this Test match for them has been the hundreds that Alastair Cook and now Bell have made. While the former made technical adjustments after the Ashes series, Bell reappraised not so much his technique as his approach after twin failures in the first Test in Centurion.

“Looking back to Centurion, I’ve changed a few things I did need to change,” Bell said. “I went back to what I’d been doing for Warwickshire last summer. [Morne] Morkel bowled well, with good pace, but it was nice to get through last night and the first hour today and cash in at the end.”

What Steyn described as the worst day of his cricket career, Bell admitted could hardly have gone any better for England.

“The whole day was exactly as we wanted it,” he said. “Straussy asked us to win the first hour; we moved on and got the runs on the board.

“The important thing was not to let South Africa back in — if we’d given them two or three early wickets, we wouldn’t have been able straight after lunch to put our foot down and take that momentum into our bowling.”

It was Bell’s brilliant one-handed catch low to his right that brought England the breakthrough wicket of Ashwell Prince that precipitated South Africa’s collapse. He revealed that he and Cook, England’s bat-pad specialists, have been doing a lot of work with Richard Halsall, the bowling coach, on close-quarter catches. “Against Australia and South Africa, you have to take the kind of half-chances that can change the course of a game,” Bell said. “Cooky held a couple of sharp ones at Centurion.

“Swanny settles on to a fantastic line and length, and seems to make things happen as soon a he gets on. You’re ready for any half-chances as you know he’s really on top of his game at the moment.”

Stuart Broad, who was hit for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh on his last appearance at Kingsmead, was singled out for strong praise from Bell.

“I remember sitting down before the game and joking about those with Broady,” Bell said. “I don’t think it really fazes him — he’ll keep running in for England all day. Today was a great example again of how he’s maturing. With his height and the lengths he bowls, he’s going to be tricky for any batsman.

“That was the great thing about that spell — asking the question around the top of off stump, which as a batter is the hardest place. It’s still a good wicket and you have to bowl accurately on it.”

Spreading the play

• Ian Bell’s hundred was his first in 11 Test matches and 20 innings dating back to July 2008, when he scored 199 against South Africa before giving Paul Harris a return catch. The left-arm spinner denied him a double hundred then, but couldn’t prevent a century this time, the Warwickshire batsman coming down the wicket and lifting him down the ground to bring up three figures. That was one of Bell’s ten fours, equally spread between off and leg sides, the Hawk-Eye graphic establishing the variety of shot he has when on song.

Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 1: match report

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Torres’ goal lifted Rafa Benítez’s side above Birmingham City into seventh place, but victory still came at a cost with Glen Johnson limping off.

As the snow and the mercury level dropped at Ice Station Villa Park, mistakes arose. Jamie Carragher slipped. So did Torres. And that was just in the first minute. For a mid-season game, the stakes were far higher than the temperature.

Aware of the immense significance of the match, Liverpool were slightly nervy in the opening stages, making misjudgements and occasional fouls.

Lucas clattered James Milner, the Villa flier relishing the uncertainty the conditions instilled in defenders. Racing at Emiliano Insua, Milner was immediately sent thudding to the tundra by the startled left-back.

Alongside Lucas was Alberto Aquilani, making only a second league start to his injury-ravaged season. Bought with great fanfare in the autumn, billed as the man to help the Kop forget Xabi Alonso and bring Liverpool some glory, the Italian midfielder rather resembles a fireman arriving on the scene to find only embers.

With their season in shreds, Liverpool had known they simply could not fall further behind in the race for fourth place.

Like the snow, Gerrard and company began to settle, gradually finding their stride, attacking the Holte End with increasing pace and purpose.

Their system was familiar, 4-2-3-1, and old warhorses like Carragher started to give them a strong look at the back. Johnson began pushing down the right. When Torres turned the ball inside to Gerrard after 19 minutes, the Liverpool captain responded with a magnificent dinked first-time shot that had Brad Friedel scrambling backwards to tip over.

Dirk Kuyt buzzed around and Benayoun always looked to break into the box, testing Friedel with a snap-shot and then sent crashing by Luke Young. Daniel Agger laid the free kick off to Gerrard, whose shot was deflected over by John Carew.

A few fears bit into Villa’s marrow. Martin O’Neill roamed his technical area like a master on a school trip checking where all his pupils were in the blizzard.

Missing the suspended Ashley Young and injured Emile Heskey, the hosts lined up in 4-4-2 fashion, relying increasingly on the right-sided Milner for much of their forward impetus as well as the drive of Gabby Agbonlahor through the middle.

From one Milner break, Stiliyan Petrov was off-target with an ambitious bicycle kick. It was a surprise that his spokes hadn’t frozen.

Villa almost scored on the half-hour. Carew, increasingly prominent, set the scene by winning a corner off Johnson. Milner bent over a ball which cleared the soaked thicket in the centre, reaching Stewart Downing at the far post.

The England winger caught the ball brilliantly, sending it first time at speed towards goal where Pepe Reina made an astonishing save. Reacting instinctively, the Spaniard flicked out a fist and punched the ball away. Reina did well not to lose any fingers such was the fierce nature of Downing’s shot.

Liverpool hit back. A split-second after laying the ball off in the Villa box, Kuyt was clattered by Richard Dunne, sparking huge protests from Benítez on the Liverpool bench. Kuyt, though, hardly appealed and the referee, Lee Probert, waved play on. Close call.

Back came Villa, Milner again shining, switching with Downing and running at Johnson. One clever turn on the touchline utterly deceived the England right-back and Milner was away, showing his versatility by lifting in a left-footed cross that Carew headed at Reina.

The temperature rose briefly when Dunne went in hard on Lucas, eliciting more protests and a caution for the Villa centre-half. Lucas then decided to enact revenge but elected to pick on Agbonlahor, earning a booking.

Liverpool finished the half on a more positive note, a fine, slick-passing move carrying the ball between Aquilani and Gerrard to Torres, whose route to goal was expertly blocked off by Stephen Warnock, the left-back showing the expertise that Benítez surprisingly sold.

The game was increasingly passing Aquilani by and when Nigel Reo-Coker darted away from him, the Italian’s response was poor, failing to track back, leaving Lucas to clear up the mess.

More reliable souls were working harder for the Liverpool cause. Though inhibited by his hernia problem, Torres sought to impose his skills, dribbling through just before the hour only for his intentions to be read well by Dunne.

Carlos Cuéllar was less impressive in dealing with a Gerrard run, scything down the England midfielder 30 yards out. Surprisingly, Aquilani took the free kick, which sailed over. Gerrard, showing commendable patience, could have shaken his head in frustration. Instead, he shook Aquilani’s hand.

Villa enjoyed a purple patch. Agbonlahor outpaced Carragher and drew a save from Reina. Carew headed wide. Insua handled, Probert refused a penalty and O’Neill went into orbit. But Gerrard and Torres refused to give up.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Friedel; L Young, Cuéllar, Dunne, Warnock; Milner, Reo-Coker (Albrighton 72), Petrov, Downing (Sidwell 79); Carew, Agbonlahor. Subs: Guzan (g), Delfouneso, Delph, Beye, Collins. Booked: Dunne.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Johnson (Skrtel 89), Carragher, Agger, Insua; Aquilani (Babel 77), Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun (Aurelio 90); Torres. Subs: Cavalieri (g), Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Spearing. Booked: Lucas.

Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire).

Warming to climate action: Xcel web site promotes green power initiatives, cap ...

Last week, there was a minor change to the website of Xcel Energy – an unobtrusive box picturing a wind turbine along with the words, "Learn more about Xcel Energy’s climate action."But the minor graphic signals a major effort at the Minneapolis-based utility – to promote its renewable energy efforts, as well as its support for a proposed federal policy aimed at limiting greenhouse gases.The site lays out Xcel Energy’s game plan for dealing with climate change, and includes an endorsement of a uniform federal policy for a cap-and-trade system that is intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started the process to cap carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, established more than 30 years ago to deal with local and regional pollution.In posting its support of a cap and trade system that charges polluters for emissions of greenhouse gases, Xcel Energy is taking the corporate position that such a system encourages technological change to lower such emissions.In the meantime, Xcel itself is "looking to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions in Minnesota by 22 percent from 2005 levels" by 2020, said Betsy Engelking, director of resource planning for the utility."We’re doing that through power-plant conversions, solar, wind and biomass efficiency. We’re taking a multi-pronged route to gain more experience within our system," she said.Xcel Energy joins a growing number of electric utilities that publicly recognize climate change and support regional or federal action to help lessen emissions.Other utilities expressing similar climate positions include San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric; Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy Corp.; and New York City-based Consolidated Edison, Inc.Con Edison, for example, already is a participant in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative effort by east coast states to develop the first mandatory cap on carbon emissions.By publicizing its support of federal climate policy, Xcel Energy differs with Fergus Falls-based Otter Tail Power Co., which until September was the lead investor in the now-defunct Big Stone II coal-fired plant in Milbank, S.D.Part of Otter Tail’s position on climate change, contained on the company’s website, reads, " … although we welcome the debate on global climate change in Congress and the state legislatures, we are concerned that a rush to legislate could lead to unintended consequences resulting in significant cost impact to consumers … "While Otter Tail Power supports a "uniform and coordinated" federal approach to greenhouse gases, the utility supports such a program only if it requires global enforcement, including participation by quickly developing Asian countries China and India.Beth Chacon, manager of environmental policy relations for Xcel Energy, said the information was highlighted on the utility’s website because, "We were receiving more inquiries from our customers about climate policy."We felt that it was important that we put on our website where we stand on this," Chacon said.Engelking offered a detailed look at Xcel’s renewable or environmental energy production intentions by power source.Wind: By 2020, Xcel Energy plans to more than double wind capacity system-wide from 2,800 megawatts to 7,000 megawatts.Engelking said Xcel will buy or develop 3,000 megawatts of that power for its system in Minnesota or Wisconsin. She said the utility will focus on developing wind because tax benefits reduce energy costs to consumers."The reality of the issue is that a power purchase agreement is just a cost that we pass through to our customers," Engelking said. "It’s extremely important to the future of Xcel that we have some experience developing wind."Wind energy development efforts will focus on Minnesota and North Dakota, the No. 1 state in wind energy potential, according to the American Wind Energy Association.Solar: System-wide, Xcel Energy plans to add between 200 and 600 megawatts of solar energy by 2020.Engelking said the utility is taking a "multi-pronged" approach to solar development, which currently is concentrated in Xcel Energy’s Colorado and New Mexico service areas.There, Xcel Energy is encouraging residential solar installation through its Solar Rewards program, which gives homeowners discounts on installed photovoltaic panels, in addition to installation on commercial buildings and building or buying power from remote solar power arrays, farms or gardens.Pending approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy plans to introduce a Minnesota Solar Rewards program in January.That residential and commercial customer incentive program will complement the still-young state solar energy industry. The state’s largest solar array, a 400 kilowatt installation, recently was completed next to St. John’s University with the help of $2 million from the state’s Renewable Development Fund (RDF).Among other photovoltaic arrays is a planned 600-kilowatt development on the roof of the Minneapolis Convention Center, another project financed partly by the RDF.Arrays and remote farms provide the most solar power, but they aren’t as intriguing as the prospect of powering some of the Central Corridor LRT line with solar power."By 2020 we’ll probably have about 29 MW of solar (energy) installed," she said. "But we’re really looking at what’s happening with different types of panels. Once you can get a panel factory up and running, that’s when you really start seeing production prices drop." Currently, most photovoltaic panels are manufactured overseas.Coal and gas: Xcel also plans to re-power or retire several of its coal plants – plants that could expose the utility to tariffs if carbon limits are imposed.Two of the utility’s Twin Cities coal-fired plants – Riverside in Minneapolis and the High Bridge plant in St. Paul – have been shifted to natural gas fuel, Engelking said. Such re-powering significantly lowers carbon and particulate emissions from the power plants. Xcel currently is in the planning stages to shift its Black Dog plant in Burnsville to natural gas, she said."As these coal plants reach the end of their lives, you have to decide what to do with the plants. They are valuable sites with (power) load already built to them," Engelking said.On the retirement scene, Xcel plans to retire two coal-fired plants in Colorado, reducing the utility’s exposure to carbon tariffs.Nuclear: Xcel plans to add 336 megawatts of power generation capacity at its Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear power plants by installing new equipment at the reactors and re-licensing them to extend their generation lives by 20 years.The increased generating capacity hinges on approval by the 2010 Minnesota Legislature.Hydro: Xcel currently distributes 511 megawatts of power generated from 27 hydro plants system-wide.Engelking said the utility doesn’t plan on developing more hydro power, but added it is working on an extension of a 500 megawatt power purchase contract with Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Manitoba Hydro.Commenting on Xcel’s climate posturing, Engelking said, "I know that our message is very different than many of our competitors here in Minnesota. "When (Chairman and CEO) Richard C. Kelly took over as head of Xcel Energy, he said, ‘This is a company that is going to be profitable and environmentally responsible.’ "

Following the Creed

UP IN THE SKY: In one sequence, Ezio gets to ride Leonardo Da Vinci�s famous hang glider, which is exciting, but you only get to use it once in the game.

I�ve only just scratched the surface of the variety of things you can do in the main missions � you get to meet and interact with historical figures like Leonardo Da Vinci, Casanova and many others, as well as drive a horse-drawn carriage in an exciting chase sequence, and even fly the famous Da Vinci hang glider.

It�s all great fun and the story is really so good that you keep wanting to complete each mission to find out more.

As for the future bits, Ubisoft has wisely limited the amount of times when you play Desmond in the future as those sequences really halted the pace of the first game and took you out of the experience way too often and this flaw is fixed in AC II.

Here, you only play Desmond two or three times, but each time, it actually moves the overall story forward and towards the end, the past and the present clash in a very �spectacular way.

I don�t want to spoil it for you, but do continue playing even when the credits start rolling at the end.

Perhaps the biggest change in AC II is the introduction of an economy where you earn cash as you play, which allows you to buy more weapons, armour and ammunition as well as buy less useful items like paintings and different outfits.

You also get you very own town in the game � this is your home base and your money can be used to upgrade the facilities in the town, and consequently, will earn you money as the town prospers.

This home base also has its own share of collectibles and side missions as there are �statues of Greek gods to collect which opens up secret caches of money, an assassin�s tomb to discover and various other little things.

Conclusion

While I generally can play and enjoy open world games like Grand Theft Auto IV, I�ve always found such games in general hobbled by repetitive missions and long boring periods of travel between missions.

Assassin�s Creed II has none of that. The newly-implemented quick travel system means that you can move from city to city instantaneously and when you�re within the city itself, the environment is so engaging that you never get bored just walking on the streets soaking in the environment or �alternatively, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally assassinating archers that try to stop you.

The sheer variety of mission types and a compelling (and surprisingly fast-moving) story means that you are constantly doing something interesting and driving the story forward as you�re doing so.

Even the side missions are interesting enough that most gamers will want to complete them � the assassin�s tomb missions and the search for mysterious glyphs are extremely fun to complete as they offer some challenging platforming and puzzles that are sure to appeal.

So in a year where I�ve anointed Batman: Arkham Asylum as the best superhero game ever made, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as the best action-adventure game this year, I�m going to just add Assassin�s Creed II to the list as best open-world game of the year.

It�s a given that fans of the first Assassin�s Creed are going to love this one, but even if you haven�t played the first game or even open-world games in general, I suggest picking up Assassin�s Creed II � it�s that good.

Pros: Beautifully realised open world; great variety of missions; excellent story.

Cons: Could cause you to lose sleep and/or have marital problems because of the a�ddictive gameplay.

ASSASIN'S CREED II

(Ubisoft)

Third-person open-world game for Xbox 360, PlayStation3

Price: RM180 (Xbox 360); RM200 (PS3)

Solar Could Generate 15% of Power by 2020, If US Ends Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Solar power technologies could generate 15 percent of America's power in 10 years, but only if Washington levels the playing field on subsidies, a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says.

That means either rolling back fossil fuel subsidies, as President Obama proposed earlier this year, or increasing subsidies for clean energy, the association says.

Fossil fuels received $72 billion in total federal subsidies from 2002 to 2008, keeping prices artificially low, according to figures from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). About 98 percent of that went to conventional energy sources, namely coal and oil, leading to more emissions. The rest, $2.3 billion, was pumped into a new technology to trap and store carbon dioxide spewed by coal plants.

During that same period, solar got less than $1 billion, according to the SEIA, a trade group representing 1,100 solar companies across the nation.

To compete and gain market share — and stop global warming — this inconsistency "must reverse itself immediately," said Rhone Resch, SEIA president and CEO.

There had been hints of this happening.

In September, the G20 group of the largest 20 economies agreed to phase out the $300 billion spent worldwide in fossil fuel subsidies "over the medium term" to combat climate change.

But neither the Obama administration nor Congress has yet to take steps to comply with the G20 commitment.

For solar to have a shot, the world cannot wait, Resch told reporters at the Copenhagen climate talks this month.

"We either remove subsidies with oil and gas or create parity with solar," he said.

Almost a million jobs could hang in the balance.

Currently, solar contributes less than 1 percent of energy used in the U.S. and employs some 60,000 people. Increasing that amount to 15 percent would result in a total of 882,000 new jobs, the association said.

That's compared with a dwindling coal mining industry that employs 85,000 people, said Resch.

The solar ramp-up would also fight climate change. A 15 percent scenario would slash America's energy-related emissions by an estimated 10 percent, curbing national carbon dioxide output by 1.4 gigatons (1 gigaton equals 1 billion tons).

To get there, however, rooftop solar photovoltaic systems would need to grow massively — from today's 1,500 MW to 350,000 MW by 2020. Concentrating solar power, which generates electricity by focusing sunlight on giant mirrors on desert land, would have to leap to 50,000 MW, up from just 424 MW today.

It "won't happen naturally," Resch said.

Domestic policy provisions that favor renewable energy sources are needed now, the solar industry argues. Many of these would not cost the government "a penny," said Resch. In fact, getting to 15 percent solar would require a relatively small government investment of between $2 billion and $3 billion in total, he said. But, he added,

"The government will have to change the way things have been done."

The policies proposed by SEIA are contained in the association's "Solar Bill of Rights." They include: the right to connect to a grid with uniform standards; the right to new transmission lines to connect solar resources in the Southwest to population centers; and the right to equal access to public land.

The last one is vital for utility-scale solar power. The oil industry currently leases over 45 million acres of federal land, much of it on sun-blessed stretches of Southwestern earth. The solar industry has access to "zero" of that, said Resch.

Also vital is global warming legislation that creates a long-term price on carbon and a federal "renewable portfolio standard" that would ensure a chunk of the nation's electricity gets produced by green power.

The industry hopes momentum from the utilities and the states will trickle up to the federal government. In 2009, solar accounted for 13 percent of all new utility announcements and filings, according to figures from the Electric Edison Institute. "There are orders right now for solar in excess of 10 GW from utilities," Resch said.

Assuming the solar industry returns to its pre-recession growth rate of 50 percent each year, electricity from the sun will be the lowest cost option in almost every state by 2018, the association said.

Copenhagen Plea

When SEIA presented the 15 percent accelerated deployment scenario at the Copenhagen talks this month, the U.S. trade group wasn't alone. Over 40 solar associations from around the world banned together to release a report summarizing surveys of the leading solar nations.

The main point was this: If the EU industry makes good on its pledge to get 12 percent of its electricity from solar by 2020, and if the U.S. can hit 15 percent in the same time frame, 6.3 million new jobs would flow. On top of that, China and India have each pledged promising near-term solar booms.

"Our message was clear," said Resch, "We are ready now to help solve the climate crisis."

Before the talks, solar representatives sent the UN secretary-general a letter, urging him to keep in mind that solar energy "offers a concrete way forward" in negotiations on how to curb and adapt to global warming. In the end, it didn't help. The Copenhagen Accord that emerged produced no binding commitments to slow climate change, and no hard signals to stimulate clean-tech investment.

But it appears the summit was not for naught for Big Solar.

"This is the first time in the history of climate negotiations that the global solar industry has gathered together with one voice," said Resch. It's also the first UN climate convention where the renewable energy industries outweighed the fossil fuel industries in "both in numbers and in influence," he added.

The key in the short term, Resch said, is not legally binding and verifiable carbon reductions but action in the biggest economies.

"If agreement has to wait until Mexico City or South Africa, fine, but we can no longer wait to star building the solar industry and making sure we have uniform policies around the world," Resch said.

 

See also:

In a League of Its Own: First Solar Breaks the $1-a-Watt Barrier

World’s Largest Sky-Scraping Solar Plant Goes Live in Spain

California Building Power Lines to a Renewable Future

New York Offers 50% Solar Subsidy, as East Coast Pulls Ahead in PV Growth

Subsidies Worth Billions at Stake in Battle Over Biofuel Rules

Climate Financing Vital to G20 Meeting Success, But Increasingly Pushed Aside

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This holiday season, Web sales are retailers' biggest gift

Consumers spent a little more than anticipated during the holiday season, according to a report out on Monday, and a significant e-tail threshold may have been crossed on Christmas Day at Amazon, the online bookseller.

For the first time ever, online sales of e-books on Christmas Day exceeded sales of physical books at Amazon, the company said on Monday.

Overall, retail spending from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 rose 3.6 percent compared with the corresponding period last year, according to MasterCard's SpendingPulse survey, which tracks all retail spending, including cash transactions.

The increase was partly attributable to one extra shopping day in 2009. Even removing that day, retail spending still beat last year's performance, when recession-dampened sales slumped 2.3 percent compared with the 2007 period.

This year's results also bested expectations, which forecast a 1 percent slump in holiday spending across November and December, compared with last year's historically bad results.

"While up is good, it wasn't going to take much" to beat 2008 holiday spending, said Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar. "Things are better but still sluggish, and consumers are still fervently looking for sales."

Boockvar pointed to reports Monday of people returning gifts in exchange for cash to buy necessities as "a sign that the labor market and people's pocketbooks are still very uncertain."

According to government data, consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. The biggest jump in 2009 holiday retail spending happened online, where purchases rose 15.5 percent compared with last year, the survey said. They now account for about 10 percent of all retail sales.

Contributing to the online surge were electronic book purchases from Amazon, meant for use on the company's Kindle reading device.

Amazon, however, does not release sales figures on Kindle sales, nor on e-books sold on Christmas Day.

Using built-in wireless technology and an electronic display, the Kindle lets users download digitized books, blogs, magazines and newspapers in almost any location and read them on the device's six-inch screen immediately.

Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007. The peak in e-book purchases on Christmas Day indicates that a number of Kindles were given as Christmas presents and were used to buy books that day. In a release, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos called the Kindle, which sells for $259, the "most-gifted item ever in our history."

Insurer invests in Solar Power, calls for fast action on Climate Change

Insurer invests in Solar Power, calls for fast action on Climate Change by Takver - Climate Indymedia
Tuesday Dec 29th, 2009 6:47 AM One of the world's largest Insurance companies, German based Munich Re, has called for fast action by Governments on climate change resulting in a strict agreement for substantial greenhouse gas reductions. The company has also increased its substantial commitment to the $400billion Desertec proposal for solar thermal power production from North Africa to supply Europe with power.


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Due to the lack of progress at the COP15 climate negotiations in Copenhagen Munich Re has decided to increase its commitment in sustainability through investments of up to 2 billion Euros in renewable energy, including the Desertec desert-power project. "We will do our utmost to ensure that Desertec Industrial Initiative GmbH, the Desertec project planning entity, can put forward finished plans in the next three years. Munich Re will, of course, also be involved in their implementation - as an investor and insurer", said Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re Board member responsible for global reinsurance business.

Munich Re, one of the world's largest insurance companies, has called for substantial greenhouse gas reductions "We need as soon as possible an agreement that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions because the climate reacts slowly and what we fail to do now will have a bearing for decades to come." said Torsten Jeworrek.

"It is very disappointing that no breakthrough was achieved at the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009. At Munich Re, we look closely at a multitude of risks and how best to handle them. Risks that change in the course of time are especially hazardous. Climate change is just such a risk of change." added Torsten Jeworrek.

Shortly after the COP15 talks ended Nikolaus von Bomhard, the Chief Executive Officer of Munich Re, said: "The outcome of Copenhagen has left me somewhat stunned. The 2°C goal agreed with China and India at the G8 summit in summer of this year was merely recognised in Copenhagen, with no pledges made. The major industrial countries, along with China and India, have thus retreated behind the lines already established. At Munich Re, we look closely at a multitude of risks and how to handle them best. Climate change is such a risk, and the need for action is obvious. I therefore find it baffling that so little was achieved during the negotiations in Copenhagen."

Nikolaus von Bomhard called for a rapid resumption of talks with a focus on the major players - USA, Europe including Germany, and China - to get the negotiations moving again. "We need a strict climate agreement, and we need it fast. Climate change is a global problem and a challenge for humankind. If the players do nothing but pursue their national interests, we are headed for a climate catastrophe."

In the Munich Re assessment of the past year there were no major catastrophes in 2009, but the total number of destructive natural hazard events was 850 above the 770 per annum average for the last ten years. The North Atlantic hurricane season was very benign with only nine named storms being recorded, three reaching hurricane force.

"However, we should make no mistake: despite the lack of severe hurricanes and other megacatastrophes, there was a large number of moderately severe natural catastrophes. In particular, the trend towards an increase in weather-related catastrophes continues, whilst there has fundamentally been no change in the risk of geophysical events such as earthquakes", said Prof. Peter Höppe, Head of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research.

Desertec Industrial Initiative Munich Re is one of 12 European companies - 10 German, 1 Spanish and 1 Swiss - that has come together in the Desertec Industrial Initiative, an ambitious solar energy project that could eventually include about 200 plants and require investment of US$400 billion, with contruction over the next 40 years.

The Desertec Industrial Initiative is a proposal to use Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP) generation with thermal storage for round the clock baseload power from the Sahara in North Africa. The electricity grids for Europe, Middle East and North Africa would be linked and integrated. High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines which have a loss of power during transmission of about 3% per 1000 km, will link the grids. If seawater is used for coolling the turbines, desalination can be incorporated to produce drinking water.

Under the Desertec proposal 2% of Europe's energy needs will be met by 2020, rising to 17% by 2050. Renewable energy generated in Europe will rise from 8% in 2010, 20% in 2020, to 46% in 2050. Hydro-electric generation will remain stable at 18%, with Fossil fuel energy decreasing from 52% in 2010 to 18% in 2050.

North Africa, South western United States and much of central Australia are ideal locations for CSP, which is seen as a relatively mature technology that can be implemented relatively easily.

Solar thermal power plants have been in use commercially at Kramer Junction in California since 1985. New solar thermal power plants with a total capacity of more than 2000 MW are at the planning stage, under construction, or already in operation.

For Australia, DESERTEC-Australia has proposed that between 2010 and 2020 Australia could sideline coal-fired output and replace it with natural gas power and renewables. This would create significant near term greenhouse gas reductions. Australia runs some of the most polluting coal fired power stations in the world and is the highest CO2 emitter on a per capita basis.

Sources

Oil prices higher on demand expectations

NEW YORK: World oil prices rose on Tuesday on expectations of a bigger drawdown of stockpiles in the United States, where cold weather could boost demand for heating fuel.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, rose 10 cents to settle at 78.87 dollars a barrel.

London's Brent North Sea crude for February delivery gained 32 cents to 77.64 dollars per barrel.

Market sentiment was boosted by expectations that the Department of Energy (DoE) will report on Wednesday a drop in US stockpiles for the week ending December 25 amid the cold weather across much of the country.

Most analysts expect crude oil inventories to fall by 1.7 million barrels and distillate stocks, including diesel and heating oil, to drop 2.1 million barrels.

"The market is definitely waiting for the Department of Energy stats tomorrow because we had some cold weather in the Northeast and there is an expectation of a distillates inventories decline, as well as a crude oil inventories decline as we head towards the end of the year," said analyst Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.

The market won further support from geopolitical tensions sparked by the crackdown on protests by major crude producer Iran, and from the oil transit dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

"Colder weather in North America, geopolitical concerns over Iran, the latest chapter in the Russo-Ukrainian dispute, as well as expectations of further crude stockdraws in the US may have provided support," analysts at the JBC Energy consultancy in Vienna said in a client note.

Oil prices had jumped last week as a larger-than-expected drop in US energy stockpiles had sparked hopes of rising demand.

DoE data released last Wednesday had shown US crude stockpiles dropping 4.9 million barrels to 327.5 million in the week ending December 18.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine agreed new terms for transit of Russian oil to Europe, averting another year-end energy crisis after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of "abuse" on the deal.

A spokeswoman for the Russian energy ministry in Moscow confirmed that a new agreement had been concluded but declined to provide details.

Officials in both countries said the agreement only covered 2010.

A dispute between Russia and Ukraine on natural gas prices last year led to a cut-off of Russian gas supplies to Europe and severe shortages in some countries amidst freezing winter weather.

The oil agreement came a day after the European Union announced that Russia had triggered an "early warning mechanism" advising EU states of the possibility of disruption to Russian oil supply pumped via Ukraine.

The Ukrainian state oil pipeline monopoly, which is owned by Naftogaz, acknowledged on Monday that it was seeking changes to terms of its 2004 oil transit contract with Russia. - AFP/de

Everything under the sun

> The space race is on again, but this time the mission is to pull power from the sun. This year, a number of companies from around the globe have announced plans to provide space-based solar power commercially. Japan is among the starters, saying it plans to launch solar-power satellites that will transmit energy back to Earth via laser beams. Scientists hope to have the first one orbiting by 2030.

Now it's time to leave the car behind and head for the hills.

Trampers who find themselves desperate for a drink from dodgy streams around the world can take a solar-powered gadget to sterilise water. The SteriPEN Adventurer uses ultraviolet light to disrupt the DNA of microorganisms like giardia and cryptosporidium, making them unable to reproduce and cause illness, says Rob Needs, from the Kiwi Outdoors Centre in New Plymouth.

"This is awesome for people who are intrepid," he says. "You just need clear water, so it's perfect for New Zealand."

The pen takes 30 seconds to sterilise water, but is costly: $349. And you have to spend a further $149.90 for the solar-charging case to recharge the CR123 batteries.

At Hunting and Fishing in New Plymouth and other outdoors stores you can order a solar- powered battery charger. Manager Shay Fairhurst says the three-panelled Solio device, worth $229.99, opens up like helicopter blades and can be attached to backpacks or coats so you can plug into the sun while you're out walking. It can power GPS units, MP3 players, cellphones and cameras.

"Internal recharge battery stores power up to one year," the blurb in a Hunting and Fishing catalogue says.

At Kathmandu, there are a couple of solar gadgets available - a kids' solar-powered watch ($35.99 on sale) and a solar LED key ring ($6.74 on sale).

It appears that retailers don't have masses of solar-powered devices, but there are hundreds available on Trade Me - www.trademe.co.nz - some of them very strange.

Perhaps the weirdest device was the solar-powered auto- darkening welding helmet adorned with a New Zealand flag. It went for $65.50.

A less-sophisticated gadget for your head is the solar fan cooling hat. While you might look a little like Disney character Gyro Gearloose, this hat could be the answer for hot spots like one-day cricket matches, the Big Day Out and ultra-distance running events (Lisa Tamati, this could be for you). It can also keep flies off your face, should you be planning a trip to Australia, and costs $19.99 in the Buy Now category.

Another odd item to keep an eye out for is the garden solar pest repeller. This beastie, designed to expel burrowing rodents, is powered by a solar cell.

"The ultrasonic frequency is designed to eliminate the rodents, but can be used against cockroaches, mosquitoes and flies as the frequency against these pests is similar to each other," the Trade Me advert says.

It sold at auction for $25.90.

One of the coolest Trade Me items was a solar-powered wireless speaker, which went for $126. Unfortunately, there was only one. The Treehugger blogsite sums it up best: "A waterproof, solar-powered 900Mhz speaker system that will work 150 feet away from the stereo."

As well as sound, you can also light up your backyard. The Warehouse sells an array of solar garden lights. You can get 10 ice- white LED ambient marker lights for $39.95 and there are other, smaller packs.

Back on Trade Me, there's a wide range, including solar- powered lanterns in all the colours of the rainbow, 20 metres of white or amber fairy lights and even an LED spotlight kit for $55.

If you want people to see where you live, you can also buy solar- powered street numbers.

"Now police, fire, ambulance can find you fast," the advert says. And even better: "Get your pizza delivered while it's still hot."

A box of numbers 0-9 will cost you $9.90. Tempting.

For hand-held light, there are solar LED torches worth $45.

"White LEDs have a rated life of 50,000 hours - a literal lifetime for flashlight," the ad says.

Still on outdoor living, there are a few solar-powered water pumps up for grabs.

"Run your outdoor aquarium, garden pond or water feature from the sun, eliminating the need for wiring or the safety aspects of electricity near water," one listing says. "Each comes with its own solar panel, cable and pump assembly ready to go and has some electronic smarts built in to regulate the delivery of power during cloudy periods."

This will set you back $70.

For people on the move, there are solar panel backpacks. These work in the same way the Solio gadgets work, except the panels are built into the pack.

They work by plugging the solar panel outlet cable into a battery charge pack, which stores the solar energy. When the battery pack has sufficient charge, it can then be used to charge cellphones, MP3 players and cameras.

"The 1700mAH battery pack is high quality lithium-ion and when fully charged, holds enough power to charge the average cellphone or MP3 player twice," the listing says.

Bidding is still under way for a number of these backpacks, but one did go for $120.

So, next time you're slapping on your hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, think about other ways you can be sun smart.

S'pore extends financing schemes for another year

THE Singapore Government will extend the financing schemes under the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative (SRI) and the enhancements to financing schemes that were introduced at the onset of the global economic downturn.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance said in a statement that these will be extended under revised terms, which will be valid for a year, taking into account improvements in the global economic situation and the Singapore economy.

The revised SRI will, from next year, be funded from the Government's regular budget, instead of past reserves. The Government expects to support $8.4 billion of new loans until the end of January 2011.

Companies, especially smaller ones, will continue to receive financing support under the revised Bridging Loan Programme.

The loan-quantum limit for companies seeking loans for working capital will be reduced from $5 million to $2 million, with the maximum loan tenure revised from four to two years.

The Government's share of the risk will also be adjusted from 80 to 50 per cent.

The Government will continue to take on 75 per cent of the default risk, and support loans up to $15 million under the Loan Insurance Scheme (LIS) and Loan Insurance Scheme Plus (LIS+) for trade financing.

However, there will be an increase in insurance premiums payable by companies of 30 basis points and 50 basis points for LIS and LIS+ respectively.

Meanwhile, for the Export Coverage Scheme, the Government will continue to subsidise 50 per cent of insurance premiums for eligible companies, up to $100,000 per company.

Additional trade-credit insurance capacity will also be made available through a top-up arrangement.

In line with improvement in the financial situation, the risk shares of the Government and participating financial institutions will also be adjusted.

For the Local Enterprise Finance Scheme, the Government's share of lending risk will be reduced from 80 to 70 per cent.

For the Micro Loan Programme, the Government's share of default risk will be reduced from 90 to 70 per cent.

Both are still above the pre-crisis ratio of 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the terms of the Internationalisation Finance Scheme will remain unchanged to help companies in terms of overseas asset acquisition and working capital for secured overseas projects.

From Feb 1 next year, the refinancing of existing loans will no longer be covered under all schemes.

 

 

 

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MENA has a lot of solar energy

MENA countries (the umbrella term for Middle Eastern and North African countries) are now capable of creating solar energy 3 times more than the current world’s capability, according to report in Khaleej Times (Dubai based daily newspaper).

In the competition of creating power energies, the fast moving countries like MENA countries (such as in Arabian Peninsula and other countries like Jordan, or Lebanon) are always becoming more familiar with solar energy and green fuels. Now they are no more strangers to these prophecies of going green.

Israel is one of the leading solar development countries, and has always been saluted by many environmental campaigners. Even UN has asked Israel to increase the development of solar energy in the country. This is actual development the world wants to see.

However, the big boom that solar development sectors are missing is the under-funding for further improvement. According to Ibrahim El Hussenei, the reason behind this is due to large abundance of oil and fossil fuels. He is a partner at an energy project development company called Booz Company in London. In 2009 the representative from Booz Company participated at Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Hussenei suggests further that the growing need of power energies of the world can be fulfilled from both the Middle East and North Africa.

Squeezing power from the Sun

According to the news report, there are two basic ways we can squeeze solar power from the Sun. The first one is from photovoltaic (PV) panels which use mirrors and lenses, and the second one is from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) which uses same mirrors and lenses but they are used in larger solar power plants. In Israel, many companies such as Zenith Solar and Aora Solar are using such technologies. Ultimately, the solar energy technology could become very beneficial because no more we have to depend on oils and fossil fuels. Thus we can use solar energy efficiently than fossil fuels. But there are few drawbacks the MENA countries face with their solar plants in the desert are sandstorms and few other dust problems which cause a negative impact on the functioning of the solar minors and panels.

Even though political situation in MENA countries and Israel is not doing great, we positively hope that solar energy will be the major power supplier for our planet.

Electricity prices up again

The rise will also affect businesses and industries that use ordinary (household-voltage) electricity supplies. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

ELECTRICITY prices are on the rise for the fourth consecutive quarter.

The electricity tariff is set to go up by 5.4 per cent from 21.69 cents to 22.87 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first quarter of the new year, utilities service provider SP Services announced on Tuesday.

That means the monthly electricity bill for an average four-room flat will go up by about $4.70 - from $87.20 to $91.90.

The rise will also affect businesses and industries that use ordinary (household-voltage) electricity supplies.

SP Services said the rate was calculated based on the average oil price for the last three months, which has gone up about 8 per cent to $99.38 per barrel.

It emphasised that the rise was entirely due to oil prices, as service costs such as administrative fees and transmitting electricity through power lines have stayed the same since July.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

Hunger strikers press Egypt on Gaza march

CAIRO: An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor is among a group of grandmothers on a hunger strike to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.

Hedy Epstein, an American activist, and other grandmothers participating in the Gaza Freedom March began their hunger strike on Monday.

''I've never done this before. I don't know how my body will react, but I'll do whatever it takes,'' Ms Epstein said, surrounded by hundreds of protesters outside the United Nations building in Cairo.

Egyptian authorities had said they would not allow any of the 1300 protesters from 42 countries to take part in the march to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.

High-ranking officers and riot police were placed on the Nile bank, where the UN building is and where hundreds of Freedom March participants asked the UN to mediate with Cairo to let their convoy into Gaza.

They met the UN resident co-ordinator in Cairo, James Rawley, ''and we are waiting for a response'', a Philippines senator, Walden Bello, told protesters. ''We will wait as long as it takes.''

Egypt has increased security along the 380-kilometre road to the Rafah border crossing, a security official said. ''Measures have been tightened along the road from Cairo to Rafah to prevent activists from the Gaza Freedom March from staging the march,'' the official said.

Separately, organisers of another aid convoy trying to reach the blockaded enclave - known as Viva Palestina and led by the British MP George Galloway - said it would head to Syria on its way to Egypt after being stranded in Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba for five days.

Turkey dispatched an official on Saturday to try to convince the Egyptians to allow Viva Palestina to go through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba - the most direct route - but Egypt insisted the convoy may enter only through El-Arish, on its Mediterranean coast.

The Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina were planning to arrive one year after Israel's devastating war on Gaza that killed about 1300 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis were also killed.

Agence France-Presse