[en] The Federal Government offers a number of incentives designed specifically to promote biomass energy. These incentives include various tax credits, deductions and exemptions, as well as direct subsidy payments and grants. Additionally, equipment manufacturers and project developers may find several other tax provisions useful, including tax incentives for exporting U.S. good and engineering services, as well as incentives for the development of new technologies. This paper outlines the available incentives, and also addresses ways to coordinate the use of tax breaks with government grants and tax-free bond financing in order to maximize benefits for biomass energy projects

[en] Although there is no decline in current international petroleum licensing activity, attention is drawn to the fact that it is concentrated in certain countries, many of them amongst the less geologically prospective. Among the factors other then geological prospectivity which promote a successful licensing and exploration environment, the most important is the fiscal terms offered. While countries which are highly prospective geologically may stiffen terms and still attract exploration companies because they feel they can make major discoveries, any decline in prospectivity needs to be accompanied by a matching change in fiscal terms to maintain interest. Less prospective countries which, hitherto, have created favourable investment conditions may however find that further declines cannot be reversed by attractive fiscal terms. (7 figures, 3 tables). (UK)

[en] This report compares the fiscal regimes in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. During 1985-1988, federal and provincial governments have made numerous fiscal changes, many in response to the drop in world oil prices. The new fiscal policies generally have reflected governments' willingness to forego revenues in an effort to aid the oil and gas industry, with certain exemptions. Since 1988, changes have reflected trends of consolidation and less government willingness to forego revenues. A federal large corporations capital tax has been introduced, the natural gas exploration holiday in Alberta expired, new oil royalties were introduced, and changes were made in fiscal regimes to accomodate horizontal drilling in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In this document, the existing corporate tax regime is described. A comparison of fiscal regimes must recognize the differing scale and nature of oil and gas operations among the 4 provinces, with Alberta accounting for 80-90% of Canada's oil and gas productions, while British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are much smaller producers. The document describes Crown royalties and incentives and freehold taxes for each type of fuel (crude oil, natural gas, natural gas byproducts, nonconventional oil). 8 figs

[en] Businesses are an important part of the problem in promoting good nutrition outcomes but because they are so enmeshed in the food system they must form a big part of the solution to improved nutrition. They must be engaged to do so, with carrots and sticks. This talk outlines this argument and describes some of the incentives that are available to governments who have a duty to be proactive in helping businesses do more good things and fewer bad things. (author)

No abstract available

[en] The ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) keeps on backing the development of renewable heat and particularly wood fuels through the selection of BCIAT projects. The projects are selected on the ratio between public financing and the amount of fossil energy spared. Since 2007 the program of BCIAT projects has allowed wood fuels to represent up to between 10 and 15% of the energy consumed in the industrial sector. A map shows that the 2012-selected BCIAT projects are quite fairly spread over all the territory. (A.C.)

[en] Current Medicare MIP measures encourage radiologists not to recommend follow-up for ≤ 1 cm adrenal nodules. However, a radiologist may be the first to discover a small, subclinical pheochromocytoma. As such, recognition of the enhancement pattern of pheochromocytoma is important to ensure detection and properly guide management, which begins with clinical and laboratory assessment for elevated catecholamines.

[en] A review of the negotiations that led to PrimeWest's acquisition of Northstar's Grand Forks property at the end of 1997 was presented as an example of dealing with commodity price risk in an asset purchase. The paper described the pricing environment at the time of negotiations, the oil price collar, and the closing results. In 1998 PrimeWest drilled nine out of ten successful wells which are currently producing at an average production rate of 2776 bpd. In the event, PrimeWest has been able to maintain good value in its Grand Forks property acquisition, despite low oil prices. It is believed that the oil price collar was the main component of value retention. The oil price collar was the mechanism to protect PrimeWest, should oil prices remain below the field price. It is believed that this transaction would not have occurred without the price collar. 5 tabs., 12 figs

[en] Highlights: • Environmental collaboration is championed as the solution to water problems. • We conducted an international systematic literature review of empirical studies. • 22 broad themes were found to influence the success and failure of effective collaboration. • Importance, agreement, and compatibility of the themes vary greatly. • More research is needed on how to prioritise different themes and the politics at play. - Abstract: Bold and inventive solutions are urgently needed to safeguard the future use of water. In response, collaborative-innovation is increasingly championed. If stakeholders including water utilities, supply-chain companies, research institutions and local communities work together, share their experiences and pool ideas, meaningful change could happen, it’s argued. But effective collaboration is far from easy. For every incentive that drives collaboration forward, another barrier blocks its path. Whilst the literature offers many possible factors that influence the success (or failure) of collaborative-innovations, it remains unclear which factors are most important, where the highest agreement and disagreement exists, and if accommodating one factor creates problems for another. This is important because its not always practical, nor necessary, to apply everything from the academic literature. In this paper, we report findings from an international systematic literature review that brings together a range of studies that cross the water collaboration and water innovation divide. We identify 22 broad themes that are spread (unevenly) across the entire collaborative-innovation process; highlight how the level of attention given to each theme varies greatly; and where disagreement exists. Our research provides practical insights on how to create more effective collaborative-innovations in water and where future research should be directed.

[en] Short communication