Energy Applications: Google Said to Plan Energy Push With Tools for Utilities - by Brian Womack and Mark Chediak

Google plans a deeper push into the $363.7 billion U.S. power-sales market by working on tools that help utilities deliver electricity to homes and businesses more efficiently, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The operator of the most popular Internet-search engine is in the early stages of building software and hardware tools to manage power lines and other infrastructure, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The technology is being developed by Google’s Energy Access team and led by Arun Majumdar, vice president of the company’s energy unit, the people said.

Google, a big consumer of electricity for the computer servers that power its services, is looking at ways to transform the century-old utility industry, which has been struggling to adapt to changing demands for power management and production. As solar, wind and other renewable energy sources come online, the power grids that transmit electricity will need to be more flexible and efficient.

“They recognize there is a huge wide-open space and that the utility companies are not stepping up to the plate,” Steven Chu, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, said of Google during an interview last month at an energy conference in Fremont, California. “They see a huge market opportunity.”

Read more: Google Said to Plan Energy Push With Tools for Utilities - Bloomberg

The European Fishing Industry - trying to stay ahead of the curve

Dutch delicacy "Nieuwe Haring" - slightly salted - eaten raw in Holland

The EU fishing industry is the fourth largest in the world, providing some 6.4 million tonnes of fish each year. Fishing and fish processing provide jobs for more than 350,000 people.

The priority for the EU is to ensure fishing is sustainable both economically and ecologically, as well as taking consumers' interests into account.

To this end, theEU  Commission has recently tabled a major reform of the EU's common fisheries policy, aiming to secure fishermen's livelihood while putting an end to overfishing and the depletion of stocks.

The proposals call for the creation of a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) to cover 2014-20. This fund will help fishermen transition towards sustainable fishing and help coastal communities diversify their economies, by financing projects that create new jobs and improve the quality of life in these areas.

The EU has fisheries partnership agreements with non-EU countries and negotiates within regional and international fisheries organisations to ensure that waters everywhere are regulated in a transparent, sustainable way and are not over-fished.

These agreements also give EU fishermen access to fish in distant waters, and so help to keep the EU market supplied – in return for a financial contribution whereby non-EU countries, including developing countries, can invest in their fisheries industries and in building up their fish stocks. 

There is a growing gap between the amount of seafood eaten in the EU and the volumes provided by the fishing industry. Part of this gap can be made up by aquaculture. Today, a quarter of fish and seafood produced in the EU already comes from fish farms and other forms of aquaculture. In terms of volume, mussels, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon are the most important EU aquaculture species followed by oysters, sea bream, common carp, clam and sea bass. 

The EU's fisheries policy has always taken environmental aspects into account. Recently, though, maritime policy has taken an even broader approach, looking at all uses of our maritime space. The EU has the world’s largest maritime area (1200 ports) and the world's largest merchant fleet. 90% of foreign trade and 40% of internal trade is seaborne.The goal is to build on Europe's assets and tradition in the field of marine research, technology and innovation, and contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

Putting all this in perspective EU's maritime policy encompasses maritime transport, competitive maritime businesses, employment, scientific research, fisheries and the protection of the marine environment. The goal is to ensure economic development while safeguarding environmental sustainability. 

EU-Digest