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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 12-02-07Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>CONTENTS
[01] Greek official visits Cyprus for consultationsGeneral Secretary of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexis Ioannou Zepos is in Cyprus on Tuesday for political consultations and the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation concerning assistance from Greece in terms of expertise towards Cyprus` EU Presidency.The political discussions will be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia between Zepos and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Ambassador Nicholaos Emiliou, and delegations from both countries. Discussions will cover the Cyprus problem, Turkey`s EU accession course, Cyprus` exclusive economic zone, the Cypriot EU Presidency in the second half of this year, and developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. Zepos will also meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Erato Kozakou Markoullis. [02] Government debt increases by 7.6% in Q3 2011Government debt in Cyprus increased by 7.6% during the third quarter of 2011, compared to the third quarter of 2010. In Greece, Portugal and Ireland were recorded the highest increases of government debt.According to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the EU, Cyprus debt to GDP ratio reached 67.5% in third quarter of 2011, compared to 59.9% in the same quarter of 2010. Government debt in Greece increased by 20.3% reaching 159.1% of GDP. In Portugal, government debt increased by 18.9% reaching 110.1% of GDP, and in Ireland increased by 16.5% reaching 104.9% of GDP. During the same period, compared with the third quarter of 2010, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 83.2% to 87.4%) and the EU27 (from 78.5% to 82.2%). [03] Cyprus Institute gets solar energy research grantThe Cyprus Institute, with another nine partners, is carrying out research in solar energy. The kick-off meeting of the OPTS project (Optimization of a Thermal energy Storage system with integrated Steam Generator), funded by the 7th Framework Programme, has recently taken place in Brussels.The three-year project, which has an European Commission financial contribution of 8.650.000 euro, is coordinated by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and involves 10 other partners, from France, Germany, Israel, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal. The Cyprus Institute (CyI), a major partner in the consortium, has secured a budget of 515.000, which will create four new positions for researchers, and include both experimental studies and simulations of the various physical phenomena occurring in the device. The CyI will contribute to the design and testing of the full scale test section, and to the impacts on the economics of solar-thermal power plants. Through its participation in the project, The Institute advances its research agenda in the field of solar energy and it demonstrates its emergence as an international force in the field. Solar energy is an abundant source; each hour the Sun irradiates the Earth with as much energy as is globally consumed in one year. However, solar energy is not always available, such as in cloudy weather or during night-time. Studying and improving technologies for storing the harvested energy is therefore of major importance. One of the most promising technologies relies on storing thermal energy by elevating the temperature of a fluid, such as molten salts. Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |