London 2012 the target as Scots dissolve partnership

Scotland's hugely successful badminton women's doubles partnership of Imogen Bankier and Emma Mason are going their separate ways.

Their last match together on the European Badminton Union circuit, on which they have won three times on their way to becoming the No.1 pair, was last Thursday, when they lost to England's Natalie Munt and Joanne Nicholas in the Bank of Scotland Centenary International Championships.

When they take the court next week in the Russian Open in Moscow they will be with English partners, ending a run of four years together.

Bankier, 20, is scheduled to team up with Sarah Bok and Mason, 21, with Gabrielle White, a women's doubles runner-up with Mariana Agathangelou at the Kelvin Hall on Sunday.

Bankier, who won the mixed doubles with new Anglo-Scottish partner Robert Blair, assured that there had been no fallout with Mason, but, with the encouragement of coaches, there had been mutual agreement to split up and try new partners.

At their peak they had reached world No.24, but their ranking has slipped to No.34, and the target is now the London Olympics in 2012 and not Beijing next year.

Bankier has been attending the National Training Centre at Milton Keynes since January along with both Blair and Bok in a set-up where players are regarded as British rather than belonging to home nations.

"There are several players of the same standard and we are all developing, but none of us are going to make the Olympics," said Bankier. "It doesn't matter about getting points, because we are not trying to qualify, so we are taking this opportunity to try out different partners. We will see how it goes.

Low-carbon flame for 2012 Olympics

A low-carbon Olympic flame will light up the 2012 Games provided scientists can find a way to make it burn up bright enough.

The low-emission flame is part of a raft of green measures by London 2012 organisers aimed at making the sporting event the greenest games ever.

They hope it will be a sustainability showcase and have set out their green plans, which tackle issues such as climate change, waste, biodiversity, inclusion to try and promote attitude change to green issues and healthy living.

The problem with trying to cut the carbon footprint of the iconic Olympic flame is that a clean carbon-neutral flame is difficult to see and so the London Organising Committee and EDF Energy have begun the hunt to find a suitable biofuel for the flame which is currently set to stand to the north outside the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.

David Stubbs, the London Organising Committee's Head of Sustainability, said: "The Olympic flame is potentially quite an energy consumer. We are looking at alternative fuels to help reduce the impact of that flame. It is early days yet. We do not know what fuel to use."

Gareth Wynn, of EDF Energy, said that the low-carbon flame "will definitely happen".

He said: "We are looking for something that has the right look and feel. There is a balance to be struck because a really clean flame can be difficult to see. We have to find a balance so that it provides the right fuel but can be seen."

One possible answer is a biogas, perhaps methane, using an organic material such as tree cuttings, he suggested.

Mr Wynn said: "I cannot tell you yet what the solution is going to be and what the gas is but we are going to find it. We have made a commitment to find it. The flame is such an iconic image that we have to get it right."

The sustainability plans - Towards A One Planet 2012 - outline London 2012 green aims through the preparation, construction, staging and legacy of the Games.

Gold? London Games are counting on green

The carbon emissions from heating the Olympic swimming pool will be measured by the organising committee of the London 2012 Olympics in an attempt to fulfil the promise of the “One Planet Games”. London 2012 will extend its environmental policy so far that it will even measure the emissions caused by the buzzer sounding when a single hit is made in a fencing match.

Such minutiae will form part of the plans to be detailed today when the organising committee announces its sustainability plan for the Games.

London 2012 aims to be the first major global sporting event to measure its entire carbon footprint, including the emissions caused by the construction of the Olympic Park and those from the flights carrying competitors, media and fans alike.

It went so far as to consider measuring the emissions from the global TV audience, but decided to draw the line against emissions that they were unable to calculate or influence.

One significant element of the Games that should not add to the footprint will be the Olympic flame, which organisers are determined to make carbonneutral. No solution has yet been found for the problem, but bio-fuels are being considered as is the possibility of burning fuel made from waste.

A minor problem here is that some gases burn with a clear flame and an invisible Olympic flame would not be seen to be doing the job.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, and Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, will be among those announcing today what they hope will be seen as ground-breaking progress for the Olympic movement to bring it into line with international thinking on environmental sustainability.

The footprint will be a measured over the seven-year period starting from the winning of the bid in 2005 to the conclusion of the Games in 2012, and it will be a matter of public record. Next year, London 2012 will announce its first guestimate for the seven-year footprint and every subsequent year it will hope to bring that figure down as it gets increasingly green.

London 2012 will not yet give a target for its carbon footprint, though industry experts believe that anything below one million tonnes of carbon would be a success. The footprint for the whole of London last year, not including aviation, was 44 million tonnes.

As London 2012 has always promised that it will be a carbon neutral, it will have to find ways of offsetting its footprint. According to current prices on the European Climate Exchange, the cost of offsetting one million tonnes would be £16 million.

The challenge that London 2012 is now setting itself is to reduce emissions as far as possible in order to keep the Games green and the carbon-trading bill low. The Olympic Park is already scheduled to have a wind-turbine at its northern end; there will also be intense scrutiny of the carbon intensity of the concrete used and of the chances of using timber where possible instead of steel.

“Doing this calculation is going to be a very big job,” John Buckley of carbonfootprint.com, who are climate change consultants, said. “When you take into account all the building being done, it’s going to be a massive footprint.

“But calculating it is all very well. What they are actually doing to reduce their carbon emissions is the real solution to climate change.”

London Olympics to be sustainable

London 2012 has announced plans to set new standards in sustainability.

The Sustainability Plan, 'Towards a one planet 2012', covers five key themes - climate change, waste, biodiversity, inclusion and healthy living - and sets out how they will be achieved in preparation, staging the Games and legacy.

The plan is far-reaching, from reuse of materials during construction to sourcing local foods during the Games to improving job prospects for the local community in the long-term.

It was approved by all members of the Olympic Board – representing the Government, the Mayor of London, the British Olympic Association and London 2012 itself. The plan is a live document and will be updated annually as the project progresses.

It will be monitored by an independent body, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012.

London 2012 Chair Sebastian Coe said: 'The Olympic and Paralympic Games can set agendas and with Towards A One Planet 2012, we hope to use the power of the Games to drive change – behaviourally and in the way big events are staged in the future.

"Sustainability underpinned our bid and remains an important element of our preparations and our vision for the legacy of London 2012.'

Showing around FIFA Masters

On Monday of this week, LOCOG hosted the 2007-08 students and staff from the 'FIFA Masters degree course'. This is a prestigious course in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport taught by three European universities: De Monfort University (Leicester, UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, IT) and Neuchâtel University (Neuchâtel, CH). It was created by FIFA in 2000 and is coordinated by CIES (International Center for Sports Studies). While the name 'FIFA' appears in the title, the course focuses on sports in general and not just football.

This year, 29 postgraduates from 22 different countries are studying on this full-time course, which covers all the major issues that sports organisations face today, from social and ethical issues to the more traditional legal and business matters.