Eurostar suspends all train services after smoke detection. -- Channel tunnel reopens

All services of Eurostar were suspended Saturday due to smoke detection in the Channel Tunnel, Eurostar announced Saturday.

All trains were returning to original stations as the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France was closed until further notice, Eurostar's customer care team said on its Twitter account.

Eurostar added that the incident occurred at around 1130 GMT and no further services would be running for the rest of the day.

In response to a customer's inquiry, the company said that "it's been necessary to investigate everything thoroughly in the Tunnel before services can run again."

Eurostar had not confirmed the time of resuming the services, but aimed to "get things running again" by Sunday.

Passengers were advised to reschedule their travel or keep hold of their original tickets for re-accommodation.
  Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
17-18/1/15
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Related:

• Channel tunnel reopens after closure due to lorry fire ...

Θετική η Κομισιόν από τη συμφωνία στη Λίμα (ΜΕ ΤΟ ΒΛΕΜΜΑ ΣΤΟ ΠΑΡΙΣΙ ΤΟ 2015)

«Ένα βήμα μπροστά» προς τη σύναψη παγκόσμιου συμφώνου στη διάσκεψη του Παρισιού εκτίμησε ότι έγινε μετά τη διάσκεψη του ΟΗΕ στη Λίμα η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή.

Η διάσκεψη του Παρισιού είναι προγραμματισμένη για τα τέλος του 2015.
Σε ανακοίνωση που εξέδωσε η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή αναφέρει ότι η συμφωνία της Λίμα ζητεί από όλες τις χώρες να αναγνωρίσουν τις μελλοντικές τους δεσμεύσεις σχετικά με τη μείωση της έκλυσης αερίων που προκαλούν το φαινόμενο του θερμοκηπίου «με τρόπο σαφή, διαφανή και κατανοητό».

Οι χώρες που διαπραγματεύονταν υπό την αιγίδα του ΟΗΕ με στόχο την σύναψη ενός συμφώνου το 2015 για τον περιορισμό της κλιματικής αλλαγής κατέληξαν σήμερα σε μια συμφωνία για τις μελλοντικές τους δεσμεύσεις σχετικά με τη μείωση της έκλυσης αερίων που προκαλούν το φαινόμενο του θερμοκηπίου, ανακοίνωσε ο Περουβιανός υπουργός Περιβάλλοντος Μανουέλ Πούλγαρ- Βιδάλ.

Έπειτα από μαραθώνιες διαπραγματεύσεις, που διήρκησαν δύο εβδομάδες, το έγγραφο των τεσσάρων σελίδων ζητεί από τις 190 χώρες που συμμετείχαν στη διάσκεψη στη Λίμα να υποβάλουν εθνικά σχέδια για την αντιμετώπιση της κλιματικής αλλαγής στις αρχές του 2015, ώστε να διαμορφωθεί η βάση για μια παγκόσμια συμφωνία στη διάσκεψη του Παρισιού του χρόνου.

Οι δεσμεύσεις των χωρών πρέπει να επιτρέψουν μια παγκόσμια μείωση των αερίων που προκαλούν το φαινόμενο του θερμοκηπίου από 40% ως 70% μέχρι το 2050, κάτι που κρίνεται απολύτως απαραίτητο για να περιοριστεί η αύξηση της θερμοκρασίας του πλανήτη στους 2 βαθμούς Κελσίου. [elzoni.gr]
15/12/14
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• UN chief hails deal on climate change in Lima 

• With rich-poor split, climate talks run into overtime ...

UN chief hails deal on climate change in Lima

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Sunday hailed the outcome of the climate conference in Lima, Peru, praising delegates for setting the groundwork for a more conclusive agreement to be reached in 2015.

"The decisions adopted in Lima, including the Lima Call for Climate Action, pave the way for the adoption of a universal and meaningful agreement in 2015," said a statement issued here by Ban 's spokesperson.

The UN chief urged all parties, at their first meeting in February next year, to enter into substantive negotiations on the draft text of the 2015 agreement coming from the Conference.

He applauded delegates for having made "important advances" in clarifying their needs for preparing and presenting their so- called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the new agreement and in "finalizing the institutional architecture for a mechanism on loss and damage."

INDCs are the commitments countries are expected to make in order to keep average global temperature rise below 2o C the internationally-agreed limit aimed at staving off irreversible climate change.

In the statement, the Secretary-General called on all parties, especially the world's major economies, to submit their "ambitious national commitments well in advance of Paris."

"He also looks forward to working with the governments of Peru and France on the new Lima-Paris Action Agenda catalyze action on climate change to further increase ambition before 2020 and to support the 2015 agreement," said the statement.

The annual UN climate talks wrapped up in Lima on Sunday, reaching acceptable but not satisfying result and leaving unresolved issues to climate conference in Paris, in December next year.

In the past two weeks, negotiators from over 190 countries and organizations gathered in the city hosting the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to negotiate a new agreement addressing climate change, which was planned to be passed at the end of 2015 in Paris and come into force in 2020. 
 Xinhua - china.org.cn
15/12/14
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• With rich-poor split, climate talks run into overtime ...

World’s largest solar boat docks in Paris. -Ending its transatlantic voyage. (2 videos)

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Paris is not new to extreme machines. The world throngs to the French capital every year to be wowed by the cutting-edge technology in either automobiles, at the Paris Motor Show, or aircrafts, at the Paris Air Show. This week, the world’s largest solar-powered boat eased into the Seine, ending its transatlantic voyage.
Docked at the quay in front of Paris’ western Parc André Citroën, the Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran, whose body is made of carbon fibre, exemplifies state-of-the-art solar-powered engineering.



The boat has already racked up some impressive credentials after circumnavigating the globe and breaking the record for a transatlantic journey by a solar-powered vessel. But this time, it also served as an experimental station that enabled scientists from the University of Geneva to conduct atmospheric and oceanic studies in the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean.
“It was a pleasure conducting experiments on this unique vessel. The advantage of this boat is that because of zero emissions, we were able to conduct studies on aerosols without any hindrance,” said Anh-Dao Le, one of the scientists onboard.

The zero emission is the result of the 29,124 photovoltaic cells that power this 35 metres long, 23 metres wide and 6.30 meters high catamaran. The solar cells, which span 512 square metres of the deck area, charge 8.5 tons of lithium-ion batteries which in turn power the two propellers. The boat, which can accommodate nine people (5 crew members and 4 scientists), has a maximum speed of 14 knots, with an average speed of 5 knots.

According to Planetsolar’s head of communications, Rachel Bros de Puechredon, who was part of the crew on this transatlantic voyage, the boat has demonstrated not only the long-term feasibility of solar energy on ocean journeys but the vessel’s capabilities as a scientific tool.
“Besides the solar power demonstration, we wanted a second life for it, the kind of which was manifested in this scientific expedition,” she said.

The boat’s unique capabilities were not only in its design, construction and use of alternative energy, but also in its navigation.
“Unlike conventional vessels, the top priority while navigating this boat is the optimisation of energy depending on the sun, wind and water currents,” Bros de Puechredon said.
Although entirely powered by solar energy, the boat does carry an emergency generator in case of extreme weather.
“We had to use the generator in order to escape Hurricane Andrea in June,” Bros de Puechredon recalled.
The Turanor PlanetSolare will be docked at the Parc Andre Citroen until September 15.
 http://www.france24.com/en/20130913-france-world-largest-solar-boat-finishes-transatlantic-voyage-paris
13/9/13