save Archives - Hoang Viet

Uncategorized

Oct 2 2024

Dr Yaser Jabbar: Family say surgeon was ‘trying to save a leg that couldn’t be saved’ | UK News

The father of a six-year-old girl who was operated on by former surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar multiple times over 15 months is among the first to be told she suffered harm during her care.

Dean Stalham’s daughter Bunty was born with the rare bone condition neurofibromatosis.

It means she has been in and out of hospital since she was 18 months old but was placed under the care of the former consultant orthopaedic surgeon in 2018.

During her time in Dr Jabbar’s care at Great Ormond Street Hospital, her family say she underwent multiple “unsuccessful and painful” procedures which ultimately led to her leg being amputated below the knee.

The hospital is reviewing the care of hundreds of children seen by Dr Jabbar.

Read more:
Child, 11, in wheelchair after surgery – as doctor accused of ‘inappropriate’ operations

Some 700 cases are being investigated in total and a select number of families have heard back already, including Bunty’s.

The review of her care – shown to Sky News – revealed that she had suffered moderate physical and mild psychological harm.

Speaking to Sky News, her father Dean Stalham said: “He [Dr Jabbar] was trying to save a leg that couldn’t be saved.

“He took it upon himself to be the almighty saviour of the leg, as it were, and it proves that they were all unnecessary because they all failed – and what it says in the report is that there’s no benefit, not one operation was of any benefit to Bunty whatsoever.”

Mr Stalham added: “He was all smiles and success – coming in and saying I’ve lengthened her leg, it’s great, it’s longer than the other one, it was all a big major success and then out of the blue – actually no it hasn’t worked.”

Dr Jabbar no longer works at the hospital and has not had a licence to practise medicine in the UK since January.

Bunty’s leg was eventually amputated in 2022. Her father says it should have happened sooner and saved her from prolonged pain.

“We think that she thought her leg was going to grow back, in her head, because she was told it was a healthy bone… she thought her leg was going to regrow. He sold her a dream.

“After the eventual amputation, he came out of that operation and said right I’ve left a three-inch piece of lovely, healthy bone hanging from her knee, it will mean she will have mobility. Then two weeks later, the bone’s veering off to the left.”

An external report – commissioned by Great Ormond Street – into Dr Jabbar’s practices and the wider department, is due to be sent to the families of those affected who wish to see it.

They have been told it will be redacted in places.

Caroline Murgatroyd, from Hudgell Solicitors, is representing some of them.

Read more:
Children left in pain by surgeon’s ‘inappropriate and unnecessary’ operations

“Bunty’s case has similarities to others we have seen – which is a pattern of poor decision making, failure to consider alternatives to the surgery and failure to discuss with parents the risks and benefits to different treatment options and whether any particular treatment is really in the patient’s best interest.”

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children said in a statement: “We wish to say we are deeply sorry to Bunty and her family, and all the families impacted by the review of care given by a Lower Limb Orthopaedic surgeon. This is not what they should expect from any service at our hospital.

“Within 18 working days of concerns being raised to senior leaders about the Lower Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Service, we asked the Royal College of Surgeons to carry out a review into our Paediatric Orthopaedic service in July 2022.

“We are now ensuring that all the findings are addressed at pace.”

Dr Jabbar has since been working in Dubai, but Sky News understands he has been suspended.

In a statement shared with Sky News, a spokesperson from CMC Hospital Dubai said: “We have been made aware of recent reports concerning allegations of misconduct and malpractice involving a physician employed at our hospital.

“We took immediate action to suspend the physician. We are awaiting the relevant authorities’ decisions on the matter.”

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Sep 9 2024

‘Bus revolution’ measures unveiled to ‘save vital routes’ across the country | UK News

A “bus revolution” will save vital routes and put passengers first, the government has said, as it unveiled new measures which include plans to further support franchising.

The legislation, which will be laid out before parliament on Monday, will give all local transport authorities new powers to run their own bus services.

Only metro mayors at the moment can control services in this way.

It will be presented in the form of a statutory instrument, meaning it does not need to be passed by parliament.

The government has also launched a consultation on simplified guidance hoping to speed up processes and reduce costs for local leaders looking to bring services into public control.

Known as bus franchising, this model involves local authorities granting private companies the right to operate in a specific area but keeping control over key aspects.

This could include routes, timetables and fares.

According to the Department for Transport, the annual total distance travelled by buses in England has fallen by nearly 300 million miles since 2010.

The department plans to present a Buses Bill later in this parliamentary session to further support franchising.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh hailed the measures as “the first stop on our journey to delivering better buses across the country”.

“After decades of failed deregulation, local leaders will finally have the powers to provide services that deliver for passengers,” she said.

“And we are taking steps to support local leaders to deliver improved bus services faster and cheaper than ever before.

“With local communities firmly back in the driving seat, our bus revolution will save vital routes up and down the country and put passengers first.”

Read more:
Starmer facing pressure over winter fuel payments
Idris Elba joins PM for launch of knife crime coalition

Helen Whately, the shadow transport secretary, said Labour’s plans are unfunded.

“They need to explain whether local authorities will raise council tax or make cuts to vital services like social care to fund this,” she said.

“Moreover, it won’t make a blind bit of difference for passengers. It won’t increase the number of services and they would much prefer to have the £2 fare cap extended at the budget.”

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Sep 4 2024

End Right to Buy to help save councils from £2.2bn black hole, government urged | Politics News

Local councils have called on the government to end the Right to Buy scheme for new council homes as they warned no change to council housing funding would end in tragedy.

Following Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner promising a “council housing revolution”, 100 local councils have warned the financial model for council housing finances is “broken”, with a £2.2bn “black hole” in councils’ dedicated budgets expected by 2028.

Follow live politics updates

In a report led by Southwark Council, its leader Kieron Williams said: “Council housing in England stands at a crossroads. Carry on down the path we are on and an ever dwindling number of people will benefit from the transformative impact of a good quality council home. However, that tragedy is not inevitable.

“Without urgent action, councils will be tipped over the edge, as the costs they need to meet to maintain their council homes outstrip the income they have to pay those costs.”

The councils have called for a complete overhaul of the Right to Buy scheme introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 that allows council tenants to buy their council homes at reduced rates.

Ms Rayner, who bought her council house through Right to Buy in 2007, announced at the end of July the government had started to review increased discounts introduced by the former Conservative government in 2012 and will begin a consultation into the whole scheme this autumn.

Only 4% of homes bought under Right to Buy have been replaced, according to charity Shelter, while an estimated 43% of households living in private rented accommodation and receiving housing benefits are in homes bought under Right to Buy.

Tenants can currently get a discount of £75,000 outside London and £100,000 in London but the report calls for those discounts to be reduced and to be “more sensitive to geographic differences”.

They also want the government to ensure the sale of council houses under the scheme is “sufficient” for councils to replace homes sold to meet local housing needs.

Councils should also be allowed to keep 100% of Right to Buy receipts to deliver new or replacement social rent homes within 10 years, they said.

When it comes to newly built council homes, the group wants a complete block on them being purchased through Right to Buy.

And they want Right to Buy eligibility to be extended so buyers will have had to be a public sector tenant for at least 10 years instead of the current three.

The councils also want those planning to use Right to Buy to have new financial health checks to ensure they can afford the ongoing costs of owning a home.

Read more:
Spending on temporary accommodation for homeless people soars
Which council tax rises could the government introduce in budget?

Also in the report, the councils said the previous government did not honour a 10-year deal agreed in 2012 that would have guaranteed rental incomes and costs were predictable.

They argue that despite being expected to “deliver on their side of the agreement”, policy changes by the government imposed new costs on councils and restricted crucial income.

They are calling for an emergency capital funding injection of £644m, which they say is equal to the income lost from council rents being capped from 2023-25.

👉 Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and that is why we are working at pace to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes.

“The government has already given councils more flexibility to use Right to Buy receipts to deliver more social housing.

“This is on top of an additional £450m for councils to secure homes for families at risk of homelessness.

“We have made clear we will give councils and housing associations the stability they need and will set out further details at the next spending review.”

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Aug 10 2024

Team GB doctor and physio help save life of Uzbekistan boxing coach | World News

It is not only Team GB’s athletes who are getting their “Olympic moment” at the Paris Games.

Team GB boxing doctor Harj Singh and physio Robbie Lillis have emerged as heroes after helping to save the life of the head coach of the Uzbekistan boxing team.

Tulkin Kilichev was celebrating Uzbek boxer Hasanboy Dusmatov’s gold medal win over France’s Billal Bennama in the warm-up area of the Roland Garros on Thursday evening when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Fortunately for the coach, Dr Singh and Mr Lillis were able to dash to his aid and perform CPR and administer a shock using a defibrillator, respectively.

“The [Uzbek] coaching team came back into the warm-up area and they were all celebrating, and then shouting came from that area that wasn’t celebrations at all,” Mr Lillis said.

“There was a cry for a doctor, for help. Harj was the first person who responded and I followed with the emergency trauma bag that we carry with us.”

The physio said a lot of coaches were “pretty visibly distressed” by the ordeal but it did not stop him putting the pads of the defibrillator on Kilichev and administering an advised shock.

“Initially he didn’t come back but, about 20 to 30 seconds later, after Harj continued doing CPR, all of a sudden he came back conscious with us, which was great,” Mr Lillis said.

The boxing coach was then taken to hospital by the venue’s medical staff, where it is understood he is in a stable condition.

The secretary general of Uzbekistan’s boxing federation Shohid Tillaboev later posted on Instagram to say the gold medal win was the “happiest moment” but celebrations were not the same with the coach missing.

Mr Tillaboev wrote: “He’s the best mentor! He is a true hero!”

Read more:
Toby Roberts describes Olympic gold medal win
Algerian boxer at centre of gender row wins gold

Dr Singh said he and Mr Lillis will hopefully visit Kilichev while he recovers, adding that the entire ordeal really “puts things into perspective”.

“Everything happened so quickly,” he said. “At some stage we will endeavour to go to the hospital. If it could be arranged, I think that would be quite emotional for both of us.”

Team GB medical staff all do regular training at the UK Sports Institute, including a pitch-side trauma course to prepare for extreme circumstances.

Mr Lillis admitted the adrenaline from the experience meant he could not sleep that night, but he is grateful to have played a part in helping someone stay alive.

👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

“It’s definitely not my day-to-day job, and I wouldn’t like to make a routine of doing it, but thankfully having had the training I was able to carry that out,” he said.

“My mum said a really nice thing, she said: ‘That’s your Olympic moment’. It’s something obviously I’ll definitely remember, I don’t think I’m going to be forgetting that any time soon.”

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Jul 3 2024

Boris Johnson revs up the faithful with vintage performance – but the cameo’s too late to save the Tories | Politics News

He’s still got it. Boris Johnson may have left it late before coming to the party – the Conservative Party, that is – but his 11th-hour rallying cry to the Tory faithful was vintage Boris and just like the old days.

It was the kind of shambolic, chaotic but barnstorming box office performance that he used to give at packed Tory conference fringe meetings when he was the king over the water and greeted like a rock star by his adoring fans.

Back then he used to upstage and humiliate David Cameron and then Theresa May.

Election latest: Sunak ‘pulls emergency ripcord’ by summoning Johnson

This time his victim was Rishi Sunak, who Mr Johnson’s cheerleaders accuse of knifing him in the back and leading the charge to oust him.

Et tu, Brute? More like Et tu, Boris. As well as answering the call in the Tories’ hour of need, he’d clearly come to settle some old scores, defend his record and remind the Tory faithful he hasn’t gone away.

And he certainly did all of those.

But while Tory activists who turned out at nearly 10pm adore him, is he still a vote winner? Or for undecided voters, is he a reminder of partygate, sleaze and Tory chaos?

But he was there on his terms, as he made clear.

Mr Johnson made a point of beginning his speech, from scribbled notes on crumpled paper, by saying he’s been asked to speak at this rally.

In other words, Mr Sunak had begged him to come to his rescue at the end of a disastrous Tory election campaign. He wasn’t going to offer. He wanted Mr Sunak to grovel and beg.

There wasn’t a word of praise for Mr Sunak in his speech. No handshake, either.

There may have been other speakers – first Michael Gove and later Mr Sunak – but this was the Boris show and a one-man show.

Although the PM made perhaps his most punchy speech of the campaign when he spoke after him – why leave it so late? It was Mr Johnson who was the star of the show, topping the bill, obviously, and had the Tory faithful screaming his name.

‘Past Starmer’s bedtime’

After a warm-up speech by Mr Gove and then a low-key announcement which seemed to take the audience by surprise, the star turn shuffled on to the stage in an ill-fitting suit, hair unkempt and uncut for weeks and considerably heavier than in his Number 10 days.

When did he last visit a barber?

He always messes up his unruly mop of blond hair before a speech. All part of the act. The late Ken Dodd used to do that. Fans would say Boris the comedian is just as funny as the man from Knotty Ash.

What a mess he looked, though. Not that the audience cared. They chanted “Boris! Boris!” just like they did when he was the darling of the conference fringe.

He began – predictably – with a gag at Sir Keir Starmer‘s expense, the man he used to call “Captain Crasheroonie Snoozefest” at prime minister’s questions.

He thanked the audience “for coming so late tonight to this venue, way past Sir Keir Starmer’s bedtime”. Boom, boom! The Labour leader will have to live with jokes about his 6pm Friday curfew for some time.

“I was glad when Rishi asked me to help,” he claimed. “Of course I couldn’t say no.”

Well, probably not. But those Red Wall Tories now facing defeat on Thursday will have wished he’d answered the call a lot earlier in the campaign.

Turning on Farage

We got the usual Johnson defence of his handling of the pandemic and the roll-out of the vaccines. And he boasted several times, not surprisingly: “We got Brexit done.” It was “a proper Brexit”, he said, a “Brexit government”.

Maybe. The audience loved all that, but why are so many Tories turning to Reform UK if it was such a triumph?

👉 Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Next, Sir Keir was ridiculed as “Jeremy Corbyn’s disciple” and accused of “taking EU law by dictation” and “poor old Starmer” was “reluctant to explain the difference between a man and a woman”, he claimed.

Then he turned on Nigel Farage, something Mr Sunak and his senior ministers should have done weeks ago.

Read more:
Second Reform candidate quits and backs Tories
Is it possible to ‘ringfence’ family time when you’re prime minister?

Reform UK was “full of Kremlin crawlers” and Putin’s “pet parrots”, he said. “Shame on them!” he declared, to wild applause.

And then a typical Johnson gag: “Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas!”

Vintage, yes. Funny, naturally. A great showman, definitely.

But is he still an asset, when so many voters appear to want to punish the Conservatives for his time in Downing Street rather than blame Mr Sunak for Tory failures?

Whatever voters think of Boris Johnson, his last-minute cameo has almost certainly come too late to save the Conservatives from the heavy defeat the polls are predicting.

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Jan 8 2024

Actress dashes 150 miles to save performance of Evita after leading lady and understudy fall ill | Ents & Arts News

An actress travelled more than 150 miles to ensure a performance of Evita the musical went ahead.

Jessica Daley travelled from her home in Middlesbrough to the Curve theatre in Leicester to step into the starring role of Eva Peron after both the leading lady and her understudy were too unwell to perform.

The theatre had spent the day trying to find a replacement and Ms Daley responded to the call, arriving to sing the demanding role from the side of the stage while the rest of the cast performed.

Luckily, the performer was already familiar with the role, having led the international tour of Evita to “high acclaim” in 2019.

She has also performed in stage versions of Billy Elliot, An Officer And A Gentleman and The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Audiences stood on their feet at the end of Ms Daley’s performance, with the theatre sharing a picture of the actress taking a bow.

“She is a diamond – a huge round of applause for Jessica Daley!” the theatre wrote on X.

“@jessicacaca7 joined us this evening to perform as Eva Peron, meaning our production of Evita could go ahead.

Read more entertainment news:
Hollywood actor and two daughters killed in plane crash
Derek Draper, husband of Kate Garraway, dies

“Here she is receiving a well-deserved standing ovation from our loyal and supportive audiences.”

One of those who thanked Ms Daley was Sir Tim Rice, who co-wrote the musical about the life of Argentine political leader Eva Peron in 1978.

The hit musical was then turned into a film in 1996 with Madonna in the title role.

“Many congratulations Jessica! Just as important, many thanks,” Sir Tim wrote.

“Show was going great guns anyway but hats off to all the company supporting your brilliance superbly when 2 terrific Evas were unwell. @Jessicacaca7 @CurveLeicester.

“Friends said it was an unforgettable performance.”

Ms Daley replied: “Lord above thank you boss!!! An absolute honour to sing your wonderful words again.”

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Feb 11 2023

Merseyside’s mega-battery is switched on – and here’s how it will save billions of pounds off bills and huge amounts of CO2 | Climate News

It looks like a self-storage park: rows of shipping containers in a patch of Merseyside waste ground. But appearances can be deceptive as this is the first step in saving billions of pounds off bills and millions of tonnes of carbon. It’s a mega-battery.

Let’s take a step back. One of the great advantages of fossil fuels, and one we take largely for granted, is they are so easy to store. Piles of coal, drums of oil, tanks of gas. They just sit there waiting for a deliberate spark.

Renewables are different: you can’t hold the wind or bottle the sun. As the proportion of green power on our grid grows so does this inconvenient truth.

The variable and uncontrollable nature of solar and wind is not a new discovery, but it is only now that we are coming close to an affordable solution: massive banks of lithium-ion batteries similar to those in a laptop, phone and only affordable now thanks to their use in electric cars.

Sky News has been given exclusive access to Europe’s biggest grid-linked battery just after switch-on. It covers an area of around two football pitches in nearly one hundred containers and can store as much electricity as 1,500 electric cars, taking in the uneven power from wind turbines and smoothing it out for local homes and businesses. If you didn’t do this, lights would dim, or wires could melt. Most of that job today is done by either firing up mini generators – so called gas-peakers – to fill the power troughs or turning turbines off to prevent surges.

James Basden, CEO of the operator Zenobe, says their batteries will cut carbon emissions.

“Battery storage sites like this are enabling more wind power to come on, but also it’s shutting down the gas generators that are currently operating and as a result we save huge amounts of CO2.”

But they should also cut bills too. When wind farms must turn off, they are paid to do this, paid to not generate. This is known as “curtailment” and the total cost is over half a billion pounds per year and rising as we have more renewables in the energy mix.

Zenobe and other big battery developers say if we can store it, we can use it and not pay to waste it.

“This is pushing power back onto the grid in a very consistent and predictable way… So sites like this are going to reduce the amount of curtailment. This site itself will save somewhere between 50 and £100m to consumers over the next 15 years.”

Batteries are one of many storage technologies in development. Scottish Company Gravitricity are using spare electricity to lift very heavy weights to the top of very deep shafts and then, when we need the wattage, they can be dropped to spin turbines.

HighView Power is using excess power to compress and refrigerate air, then store it in tanks for as long as required. When peak demand comes, the air is allowed to expand and, once again, drive generators. Hydrogen has a potential role in storage too: use electricity for the energy intensive process of breaking hydrogen out of water. Getting the H from the H2O gives you a tank of that zero-carbon fuel.

Dan McGrail, from the trade body Renewable UK, says: “We’re going through one of the biggest changes in our energy system of all time at the moment. So having energy, energy storage in the system is going to be a really vital component of how the system works in the future and stays in balance to provide electricity for homes and businesses.”

But none of these storage technologies is yet sufficiently mature to fill long winter spells of windless cloudy weather. To keep the lights on, some baseload of nuclear and reserve of gas power is likely to be needed for a few decades yet.

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Dec 17 2022

These simple energy tricks will save you money, government says in delayed information campaign | Climate News

Britons are being urged to plug gaps in doors and tweak boiler settings to curb soaring energy bills, amid fears of power blackouts this winter.

Months after other European leaders made similar announcements, in November the UK government committed to a multimillion pound public information campaign offering “simple, low or no-cost actions” to bring about “big savings”.

It followed growing pressure from campaigners and environmentalists who said small changes to lower demand would boost energy security, lower bills and limit emissions, benefitting the climate.

The government has now unveiled its initiative called It All Adds Up, which outlines “straightforward” steps to cut energy use immediately, “while ensuring people are able to stay safe and warm this winter”.

Tips to lower bills and energy use

– Turning appliances off at the socket could save you up to £70 a year, as most electrical appliances, such as computers and video game consoles, draw power continuously unless unplugged.

– Washing clothes at a lower temperature could save you up to £40 a year. Changing from 40°C to 30°C means you could get 3 cycles instead of 2 using the same amount of energy.

– Closing all your curtains and blinds at night can help stop warm air escaping through windows and reduce heating costs.

– Turning down radiators in rooms you aren’t using or use less could save you up to £70 a year.
When you’re not using rooms, turn radiator valves down to between 2.5 and 3, which is more efficient than turning them off completely.

– Turning your combi boiler flow temperature down to 60°C could save you up to £100 a year.

– Use your tumble drier wisely. Can you dry clothes outside instead? If not, ensure you have a full load, around three-quarters of the drum.

“No one is immune to rising energy bills this winter,” said Business Secretary Grant Shapps, who appeared in a promotional video in which he battles an elf.

“So it’s in everyone’s interest to use every trick in the book to use less energy while keeping homes warm and staying safe,” he added.

Mr Sunak’s predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson resisted calls to launch a public information campaign, with Ms Truss ditching a similar plan amid fears it would be too “nanny state”.

Germany and the Netherlands asked their citizens back in April to start saving energy, while Denmark in June launched its “Én ting er sikkert. Og det er grønt” electricity saving campaign, which translates as “One thing is certain. And it is green”.

The £18m UK initiative will feature adverts and more detailed information on the gov.uk website.

The government’s energy saving drive is part of its long-term plan to reduce the UK’s final energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030, compared with 2021 levels.

It has also committed funding to upgrade energy efficiency and insulation in homes.

Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.

All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.

The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Dec 13 2022

Solihull frozen lake deaths: Boy, 6, fights for life as victim hailed ‘hero’ for trying to save others | UK News

A six-year-old boy who fell through ice into a lake in Solihull is still fighting for his life, as one of the three children who died was named locally.

Mourners left flowers, balloons, soft toys and lighted candles at a vigil held on Monday night following the deaths of three boys aged eight, 10 and 11.

One of those who died has been named as 10-year-old Jack Johnson, who has been described to Sky News as a “hero” because he went into the lake to try to save others.

The boys fell through the ice into Babbs Mill lake in the West Midlands along with a fourth boy, aged six, who remains in a critical condition in hospital.

He was pulled from the water by emergency crews, including a police officer who tried to punch through ice during the rescue efforts.

West Midlands Police said nobody else had been reported missing.

A friend of one of the boys who died told Sky News how the events unfolded.

Tommy Barnet, 10, said one of the boys got his legs stuck in the ice before his friends rushed over to help him, but they all fell in.

Tommy told Sky News: “They were all playing on the ice, one got their legs stuck in the ice and then… his friends went to go and save him, but they all fell in.

“When it was summer, we used to go in the woods and play hide and seek next to the lake. But I wasn’t here yesterday.”

“It’s so sad, I am upset,” Tommy said, as he described how the community was waiting to hear the names of the other boys involved.

“They want them [the police] to reveal more information about it just to make sure who it is.”

The four children were all in cardiac arrest when rescue teams pulled them out.

They were taken to hospital but police said three of them “could not be revived”.

Reports from the scene and social media videos indicate they were playing on the ice and fell through, the fire service said.

Members of the public and police officers initially went into the chilly waters to try to get the youngsters out, before the children were reached by specialist water rescue-trained firefighters who got the group to safety.

Families affected by the tragedy are “absolutely devastated”, said Superintendent Richard Harris of West Midlands Police.

Temperatures are thought to have plunged to 1C (34F) in the area at the time of the incident, falling to minus 3C (26F) overnight.

admin 0 Comments

Uncategorized

Sep 13 2022

Global shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2050 would save £10trn, scientists say | World News

A rapid global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2050 would save the world at least £10trn, according to new analysis.

The faster we dump gas and oil, the more we’ll save, researchers at the University of Oxford said, adding that the idea going green will be expensive is “just wrong”.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Joule, used data on energy costs going back several decades, as well as thousands of scenarios of the cost of switching to zero carbon power.

The researchers found that wind and solar energy, as well as battery storage, had become far cheaper than had been originally anticipated, because of better technology and economies of scale.

Fossil fuel prices have fluctuated widely, driven by global political and economic events.

And the cost of nuclear has consistently increased over the last 50 years to the point where it is unlikely to be cost-competitive with renewables.

The study concludes that renewables are now often cheaper than fossil fuels – and that cost advantage will accelerate.

Rupert Way, the lead author from the University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, said: “Scaling up key green technologies will continue to drive their costs down – and the faster we go, the more we will save.

“Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is now the best bet not just for the planet, but for energy costs too.”

Professor Doyne Farmer, from the Oxford Martin School, and another of the researchers, said: “There is a pervasive misconception that switching to clean, green energy will be painful, costly and mean sacrifices for us all.

“But that’s just wrong.”

Read more on Sky News:
How bill freeze announced by Liz Truss will affect you
Russia scraps plans to reopen major gas pipeline
Coal power stations back online in Germany to keep people warm

Gas and oil prices have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, causing a global spike in inflation.

The new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, last week announced the government would issue around 100 licences to explore for more North Sea gas and oil, and lift the ban on fracking.

But the researchers warn that governments should redouble efforts to move away from “expensive, insecure, fossil fuels.”

:: Subscribe to ClimateCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Spreaker.

Professor Farmer said: “The world is facing a simultaneous inflation crisis, national security crisis, and climate crisis, all caused by our dependence on high cost, insecure, polluting, fossil fuels with volatile prices.

“This study shows ambitious policies to accelerate dramatically the transition to a clean energy future as quickly as possible are, not only, urgently needed for climate reasons, but can save the world trillions in future energy costs, giving us a cleaner, cheaper, more energy secure future.”

admin 0 Comments