Sir, Regarding ‘EU debates out-of-court scheme for consumer disputes‘: In mid-March, the European Commission closed the consultation period on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). EUREAU, the European Federation of Water Utilities, highlights the fact that the situation for the drinking water and wastewater utilities regarding the ADR topic has been studied with care. Nowadays, consumer confidence [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘NATO warned against strikes on Libya’s ‘great river”: This Great Man-Made River (GMMR) Project must be stopped. The water comes from the deep-seated resources of the Sahara. There is no such thing as a free water supply anywhere. If you extract this deep-seated water from below the Sahara the result is that water [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Aerospace industry aims to fly higher on innovation‘: When asked to name the greatest attribute that a world-leading engineer could have, our late chairman – the great aeronautical and design engineer Prof. John Argyris FRS (Royal Medal) FREng (Prince Philip Medal) – pondered for a few seconds, which at the time seemed like [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Test shows E10 increases fuel consumption‘: The idea that ethanol has 40% less energy than gasoline that is given as the excuse for why it causes a mileage loss is not factual. Internal combustion engines only make a 15-25% efficient use of fossil fuel, meaning 75-85% of the energy potential of gasoline and [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Exxon’s algae biofuel ad banned over ‘misleading claims’‘: While Exxon may have misled,without intending to, the fact is that algae represents an extrordinary technology for the purpose of carbon sequestration. Many coal-fired electric generating plants use coal and in the process release enormous quantities of Co2 into the atmosphere. Sequestration programmes that rely [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Indian pharma firms, NGOs oppose EU free trade deal‘: Given his 16 years of experience at the head of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), we are surprised to see Mr. Brian Ager’s comment that “there’s no way that anything in the India-EU FTA could or should have any impact [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Rising electricity bills: Will smart meters help consumers?‘: As a consumer and private citizen I must say that no advantages regarding my bills can be gleaned from smart metering. In Italy and Spain, where smart meters have been installed by the provider automatically, what we have found is that together with that the [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Germany hosts crisis ‘summit’ over E10 biofuel‘: The issue of the E10 biofuel balancing act is nothing at all to do with the fear of motorists for the car manufacturers Merceds Audi VW Saab Volvo etc all have been moving towards the goal of fully flexible fuel sources for their engines. What is [...]

Sir, In response to the interview with Mr Gilligan of GE: “Assumption”: (definition – Concise Oxford Dictionary) – thing assumed, take for granted, arrogance. Mr Gilligan in his interview has assumed that his experience and knowledge of the USA and its power networks applies to Europe. He is correct that there was large-scale construction of [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Socialists, centre-right quibble over eurozone reforms‘: The Swedish prime minister’s arguments against an EU-17 Eurogroup summit are irrelevant at best. The most relevant way to coordinate Ecofin decisions on withstanding the impact of debt contagion demands the holding of an EU-17 summit and policy commitments going forward. Including non-euro members (e.g. the UK, [...]