Chit chat fodder with lucky charms

The last installment of chit chat fodder was pretty recent but whatever. Random socio-economic facts are about as dependable to bring along to any social gathering as wine.

Sea wind now bracing and useful
A licence to build the world's largest offshore windfarm in the Thames estuary has been granted by the U.K government. Sited 12 miles off Kent and Essex, it should eventually consist of 341 turbines and occupy an area of 90 square miles and generate enough power for a third of London's homes. It is claimed that the windfarm will produce an amount of energy that, if generated by conventional means, would result in 1.9-million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Big pimping in cardboard cars
Rolling off the production lines in India this year will be a budget car for around US$2200 which will be within the reach of tens of millions of Indians who until now could only afford a motor scooter. This is alarming environmentalists who argue that the last thing India's choked roads and notoriously polluted cities need is yet more cars. The vehicle will be available in four or five-seat versions with an engine of just 30 horsepower.

40 billion Jareds
Americans' fondness for sandwiches resulted in a market worth more than US$121-billion last year. It is predicted that the market for prepared sandwiches will keep growing exponentially, attributable in part to the popularity of sandwich chains such as Quizno's and Subway.

Imagination void costs money
It is estimated that over US$80-billion was spent in the U.S. on gift cards last year, an increase of 20 per cent over 2005. However, over $8-billion will go unredeemed, a windfall to retailers, due to expiration, or loss of cards. This is more than twice the amount of loss to credit or debit card loss in the U.S. in 2006.

Around the campfire with money to burn
A three-day "camp" for the offspring of families that have a fortune of over US$50-million or more was held last month. The agenda, for rich kids between 25 and 35 included sessions on the psychology of money, building an investment portfolio and issues surrounding inheritance.

Emoticon free communication
Amateur radio enthusiasts are fighting to save Morse Code. The language of dots and dashes has always been popular with the amateur radio community who have provided a communications lifeline in emergencies and disasters. But now the U.S. government will no longer require Morse Code proficiency as a condition for an amateur licence. There are about 660,000 licensed "ham" radio operators in the U.S.

Breeding like rabbits
Four countries in Europe have more cellphones than people: Luxembourg (120 phones per 100 people), Sweden (108), Italy (107) and the Czech Republic (103).

Industrial revolution for the new millenium
The great coal rush underway in China is on a scale not seen anywhere since the 19th century. The Chinese plan to build no fewer than 500 new coal-fired power stations, adding to some 2,000 of them, most of them unmodernised, that spew smoke, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. The consequences have been detected half a world away in toxic clouds so big they can be seen from space drifting across the Pacific to California laden with microscopic particles of chemicals that cause cancer and lung and heart diseases.

The future is damp
Honda is expecting to sell hydrogen fuel-cell cars to the general public by 2018. Fuel-cell cars produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Since the fuel-cells leave only harmless water vapour as a byproduct, they are considered a cleaner alternative to internal combustion than using fossil fuels. Finding an effective method of storing the hydrogen is one of the current challenges in fuel-cell design.