Easyjet to trial "revolutionary" paint to cut costs

Easyjet are to experiment with a special type of paint which to date has only been used on US military aircraft. The paint is said to reduce drag when planes are flying and thus cut down on fuel consumption and therefore costs.

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German exports rose 18.5% in 2010

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Export help for small businesses

With new figures showing a widening gap in the UK's trade deficit in goods and services, the Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced new measures to encourage smaller companies to export more.

Mr Cable said the UK had "consumed too much and exported too little" and the four new schemes would be created to help firms get access to credit and insure against risk.

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S3 Oil Project

Preparation

• Wednesday 2 February (Library - laptops and internet access)
• Thursday 3 February (Room 2 - laptops but no internet access)
• Tuesday 8 February (Room 45 - computers and internet access)

Final Deadline

• Presentation and report on Wednesday 9 February

Team Leaders

• Seneca (Michael and Mickiel)
• Oil Based Lubricants (Fraser & Hal)
• The Divers (Hussam & Andrew)
• Discovery (Vahaab & Douglas)
• TurmOil (Tom & Hugh)

Team leaders and assistants responsible for ensuring presentation is ready for deadline day and final report allocated.

Some good links

OPEC

OPEC and the world oil industry

The world oil market

Crude oil's rollercoaster prices

Questions & Answers - Volatile Oil Prices

Oil supply cannot match demand

China's oil demand increase "astonishing"

It was worse than predicted......

The UK economy suffered a shock 0.5% contraction in the final quarter of 2010. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported that although the bad weather had had an effect, growth would still have been flat if its effect had been excluded.

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Latest economic news....

Economists have warned that the rate of economic growth in the UK is likely to have slowed in the last 3 months.

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And a further study suggests that the recovery is not evenly spread across the UK - while some cities like Hull and Doncaster are doing well, Sunderland and Liverpool are struggling to recover.

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Unemployment nears 2.5 million......

One in five 16-24 year olds is now out of work.....951,000 without jobs! The highest figure since records began in 1992. Unemployment overall rose to nearly 2.5 million at the end of November.

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