China's coal reserves 'will make it new Middle East', says energy chief | Environment | guardian.co.uk

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Palmer dismissed the idea that the world might ever experience "peak coal" – the point at which maximum global coal production rate is reached. "The Dakotas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas all have large, large amounts of lignite [brown coal]," he said. "Or in western China and Mongolia you have lower-ranked coals. So I don't think there's a peak coal problem. I think Xinjiang province in the west of China, where they say there's a trillion tonnes of resources, will be the new Middle East. Anyone who has the notion that we're going to move away from fossil fuels just isn't paying attention."

Public sector to be told to cut carbon emissions by 25% by new campaign | Environment | The Guardian

The government is planning to force every public sector body, including Whitehall departments, to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter over the course of the current parliament in an attempt to burnish the prime minister's environmental credentials, the Guardian has learned.

The 25:5 campaign, as it is expected to be called, will follow on from the 10:10 commitment to cut emissions by 10% by the end of 2010, a target that will be met this May. The new campaign sets a 25% target over a five-year period.