CIPHE student awards dinner Published:  03 June, 2016 An enthusiastic audience of some 220 people attended the Student Awards Dinner organised by the Kent Branch of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE). This included students, lecturers, sponsors and branch members. Owen O’Neill, Kent branch president welcomed everyone and told the students it was their night: “You have earned the right to be here, we recognise your achievements and salute you.” Other special guests included CIPHE president Terry Stephenson and Richard Soper CBE. Mr Soper delivered an inspiring motivational speech, praised the students’ achievements and told them that anything is possible if they put in the work and seize their opportunities. Mr Stephenson, in his closing address, emphasised the importance of an apprenticeship as a foundation to those entering the industry and a springboard to continual learning as their careers evolved. Source link

©Reuters Indian oil products group Reliance Industries reported record profits for the past financial year even as the low price of crude dragged turnover down 24 per cent. Turnover in the year ending March 31 fell to Rs2.96tn ($44bn), the company said after Indian markets closed on Friday, as net profits rose 17 per cent to Rs270.6bn. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas Prices of refined oil products fell less sharply than those in its crude business, helping the division’s profit margin, before interest and tax, to rise 520 basis points from the previous year to 10 per cent. “The refining business is a story of margin expansion, with gasoline as the star performer,” said Alok Agarwal, chief financial officer. The company — India’s second-biggest listed entity by sales after state-controlled Indian Oil Corporation — pointed to a rise in global oil demand of 1.8m barrels per day during the year, led by petrol. It said nearly half the growth in demand came from China and India. But while Reliance’s profit margin on petrol rose strongly to more than $19 a barrel, its margin on diesel products fell by about a fifth. That stemmed in part from a decline in Chinese demand for diesel used to power trucks transporting coal and other freight, as that country’s economic growth slows. Oil refiners are also braced for the impact of a surge in refined products from China — notably by independent “teapot refiners” — that are turning increasingly to overseas markets as domestic demand fails to keep up with Chinese refining capacity. In a possible reflection of that trend, fourth-quarter profit for Reliance’s refining and marketing business — while still 30 per cent higher year on year at Rs63.94bn — slipped 1.5 per cent from the third quarter. Reliance is also in the middle of an ambitious leap into telecoms through its Jio subsidiary, into which it has invested more than $16bn. Jio has acquired more high-speed 4G spectrum than any other Indian telecoms company. It has been testing the service among employees since December but has repeatedly pushed back the date of a commercial launch. Reliance on Friday again declined to shed light on the likely timing. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, who has presented in patriotic terms what some in Mumbai view as a gamble, said in the results statement that the business would “propel growth for India”. But analysts at Nomura call the venture a “key headwind”, saying it is unlikely to contribute to earnings for the first three years of operation. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

Emma Howard, Guardian Sustainable Business 20th October 2015 Hundreds more jobs will be lost at solar power companies if planned changes to government policy come into force in the new year, 25 small businesses have told the Guardian. The solar and energy efficiency companies have already made 32 staff redundant between them and more than a dozen of the firms said they expect to close if the changes come to pass as expected, with the total loss of more than 350 jobs. The losses would be in addition to 1,000 jobs that have already been axed after four solar power companies in the past fortnight announced they were going into liquidation, blaming the Government cuts to support for solar. Unions also joined the criticism on Monday, saying the Government should not have “slashed” subsidies. The businesses the Guardian spoke to accused the Government of “actively destroying UK renewables” and “stopping an industry in its tracks”. Most specifically, they referred to a proposed 87 per cent cut to the solar Feed-in Tariff, a Government incentive scheme for small solar installations. Some firms also cited the closure of support for the flagship Green Deal scheme that incentivised homeowners to invest in insulation for their homes. Many reported that they are experiencing a surge in demand before the change to the Feed-in Tariffs comes into force on January 1 2016. The Renewable Obligation (RO) scheme, a separate solar subsidy for larger solar installations of up to five megawatts, is also set for early closure in April. Nick Pascoe, managing director at Orta Solar, which is in the process of closing, making four permanent staff redundant and affecting 11 more contractors, told the Guardian: “The rest of the world has recognised that renewable electricity inspires countless entrepreneurs to set up localised generation businesses and that it can challenge the market share of the established monopolies. “However, this Government are so much in the pockets of those established monopolies that they are doing their bidding in actively destroying UK renewables. Their stance is out of step with the rest of the industrialised world and is a dreadful blight on the UK.” The director of another failing solar company accused the Government of “willfull destruction” of the industry in order to make way for fracking and nuclear energy. Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this. Related content:Green policy Source link