China's 12th Five Year Plan: A Preliminary Look

Jonathon Porritt (forum for the future and Guardian) gave an excellent lecture and kick to do more, entitled City, Nations and Global Capital: Turning Sustainability into Reality, at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) on 4 April. 
Among other issues he did point out that this plan was worth reading and that it had a great deal of the right direction and leadership in it and as a better example of what needs to be planned and done than democratic countries are currently managing to show. So I thought I would read into it a little..
China's 12th Five Year Plan: A Preliminary Look

From article in Opinion Maker Feb 25, 2001. http://goo.gl/HVKuj

UK - Blake's Parliamentary Year Book 2010 - "All Change" rail editorial

Editorial written in March 2009.

photos from top

1. St Pancras station

# southeastern highspeed snaps

2.Chatham Station - May 2009 (not in service!)

3. Ebbsfleet International Station - August 2009

Southeastern is owned by Govia, which is itself jointly owned by Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, who also operate the neighbouring Southern operating company which overlaps with Southeastern in some areas. The company’s formal name, under which it mounted its bid for the franchise, is London and South Eastern Railway.

Keolis was formerly an investment of 3i. 
Groupe SNCF and a consortium comprising AXA (acting through AXA Private Equity) and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, agreed to acquire a majority participation (55%) in Groupe Keolis. Within the consortium itself, the shareholding will be shared equally between the two partners. Groupe SNCF retains its current equity participation (45%) and remains the Group’s key industrial shareholder.
Early in 2010, there was consideration in the press of a potential merger between Keolis and Arriva.

The Conservatives' plan for a 'Green technology recovery'

George Osborne has set out a series of measures that could be introduced in next week’s Budget and would bring about a green technology revolution in Britain.

The Shadow Chancellor stressed, “The Budget is not just an opportunity to help people now; it’s also a chance to chart a new course for the future.”

And he outlined a series of policies to “kick-start a green recovery” built on new technologies developed and manufactured in Britain:

• A £6,500 energy efficient entitlement for every home in Britain
• Funding at least three carbon capture and storage pilots (2)
• The introduction of feed-in tariffs (4) and smart meters (3) to encourage homes to microgenerate using wind turbines and solar power
• A national recharging network for electric vehicles (5)
• Beginning work on a new high-speed rail network (6)
• Investing in the creation of an electricity internet (7)
• Providing government loan guarantees to companies investing in green technologies
• Creating the world’s first environmental trading market
• Introducing a network of Marine Energy Parks
• Building an offshore DC cable network (10)

George stressed their plan “could transform Britain”: “It would unleash £30 billion of new private sector investment, without adding a penny to the national debt. It would lay the path to a greener future. And it would help build a future economy where we save and invest for tomorrow instead of borrow and spend for today.”

Download their plans for 'A Green Technology Recovery'