Category Archives: Resource Based Economy

eGov Magazine | Elets

Democratisation of Knowledge-Based Economy eGov Magazine | Elets There is an abundance of capital all over the world, but the skilled human resource is scarce. Here, India's demographic dividend is going to play a crucial role. Therefore, Digital Skilling is going to become a great potential for growth in the ...

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Democratisation of Knowledge-Based Economy - eGov Magazine | Elets

At the north end of beach in Manzanita, Peregrine Points lush green forest rises from the sand. Lower Nehalem Community Trust manages this parcel which extends the protected lands of Oswald West State Park, the gateway to the newly established Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, creating a conservation corridor across land and sea.

Join the Lower Nehalem Community Trust (LNCT) and Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve for an easy 1 mile beach walk and explore the intersection of these protected areas. A nice morning low tide will allow the group to explore tidepools at the north end of the beach. Bright purple seastars, yellow sea slugs, crabs, and an array of algae thrive at the intersection of the new ocean reserve site and Peregrine Point.

Come discover how Oregons coastline weaves with the land around it. Our coastal zone welcomes the return of ocean dwelling salmon to local rivers, seasonal migrating whales, and countless birds living within our watershed. Join us as we explore this piece of the coastline and share about our efforts to conserve the coastal margin!

Hosted by Friends of Cape Falcon MR and Lower Nehalem Community Trust, this event is part of the Explore Nature series of hikes, walks, paddles and outdoor adventures. Explore Nature events are hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and non-profit organizations, and are meaningful nature-based experiences highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy. Learn more at http://www.explorenaturetillamookCoast.com

When: Thursday, July 27, 2017, 9 a.m. 12 p.m.

Where: Neahkahnie-Manzanita State Park/ Neahkahnie Beach. Register for additional details.

Details: Wear boots or comfortable walking shoes. Flip flops are never ideal for exploring tide pools. Be prepared for wet feet and dynamic Oregon coast weather.

Registration: Information available at http://www.ExploreNatureTillamookCoast.com. Registration required. Additional information available at http://www.nehalemtrust.org.

Questions? Contact Smith_Chrissy22@yahoo.com or call541-231-8041.

Cost: FREE! Tax-deductible donations to Lower Nehalem Community Trust and the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve are encouraged but not required.

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Conserving our land, beach and sea - The North Coast Citizen - North Coast Citizen

CILISOS.MY

Did the Kelantan gomen unknowingly become part of an environmental bitcoin scam? Perhaps. CILISOS.MY On one hand, it's sort of a shift from a resource-based economy (read: cutting down trees for money) towards a more sustainable form of income. Kelantan gets to keep their forests, and at the same time they get to charge money for all the greenhouse ...

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Did the Kelantan gomen unknowingly become part of an environmental bitcoin scam? Perhaps. - CILISOS.MY

C. Smith/Submitted Photo Landscape view featuring Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, Peregrine Point and Oswald West State Park.

MANZANITA The Lower Nehalem Community Trust and Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve are hosting Conserving our Land, Beach and Sea, an easy 1-mile beach walk from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday to explore the new Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Peregrine Point at Neahkahnie Beach.

This event is part of the Explore Nature series of hikes, walks, paddles and outdoor adventures, hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and nonprofit organizations. These nature-based experiences highlight the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy.

Reservations are required; register at http://www.explorenaturetillamookcoast.com. There is no cost for this event, but donations the trust and the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve are encouraged. Participants are advised to wear boots or comfortable walking shoes.

For information, email Smith_Chrissy22@yahoo.com or call 541-231-8041.

Beach walk to highlight Cape Falcon Marine Reserve

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Beach walk to highlight Cape Falcon Marine Reserve - Daily Astorian

The Conversation

Since the Finkel review was announced it has been open season fornotion buildingin the energy space.

While Malcolm has been pumping Snowy 2.zero, Craig has been promising death by renewables, quite literally.

Josh seems to be for just about everything, besides Labor state governments of course, and reckons we are on track to meet Paris commitments.

Barnaby, true to form, is backing coal, reckoning Paris can take care of itself, while Electricity Bill iskeeping mum, knowing it wont but banking it will.

The one I like the best, but really hasnt been nailed quite the way I thought it should, is Tonys call for nuclear subs.

Imagine, our first truly dispatchable power system, capable of delivering a few hundred megawatts just about anywhere you need it.

Defending the grid withRANpower float and plug technology, just what we need to shore up our fragile energy system.

A tour of dispatch last year including Tasmania from January through June, South Australia June through November, and then on to Queensland for the summer would have been a nice little money spinner for the Navy, worth around quarter of a billion dollars on the energy markets. And that doesnt include offsets, such as the purported$44 million Tasmanian government spent on diesel gensets. Could it be our best notion yet for meeting Paris?

It goes without saying that our political masters dont need much provocation to indulge in a bit of notion building. After all, it is what they do best.

But, in case you are wondering why this sudden release of energy, it might be useful to reflect on some recent analyses that paint a truly disturbing picture for our energy sector.

The first comes from theEuropean Commissions latest electricity market updateproviding the comparison of wholesale electricity prices shown below.

International wholesale prices as adapted from Figure 33 in the European Commissions Quarterly report on European electricity markets Q1 2017. Average prices for the 4th quarter of 2014, 3rd quarter 2015, and the first quarter of 2017, are referenced as a percentage of Australian prices. Source: The Conversation.

As recently as three years ago our electricity wholesale prices were low by any measure. In fact according to the ECs analysis our market prices then briefly dipped below those in the US. Then, ours were just 20% of the Japanese price.

How times have changed.

According to the ECs latest analysis our prices tracked pretty closely with the US until the second half of 2015. It seems things to start going awry just about when Josh received the poison chalice as Minister for Energy and Resources.

Six quarters later and the EC now estimates that for Quarter 1 this year our prices were a staggering 400% higher than in the US.

This last quarter we even managed to top Japan, which is some achievement considering that across the quarter we exported some20 million tonnes of our thermal coaland over half a million tonnes of LNG to help them sure up a power system still reverberating from the shock waves of Fukushima.

Thats about half as much thermal coal as used to power our system.

The second comes fromBPs latest Statistical Review of World Energyreleased in June, which provides national figures for all things related to energy production and consumption, including sector wide emissions.

According to BPs latest figures our energy sector produced about 409 million tonnes of CO2 in 2016. That amounts to 16.7 tonnes for every Australian.

On aper capitabasis, that puts our energy sector a touch above the next most emissions intensive economy in the developed world the US at 16.5 tonnes.

Even Canada, which has a resource based economy more comparable to our own, gets away with only 14.6 tonnes per person.

Trends in per capita emissions for select countries (in tonnes per person), plotted as a function of GDP (in $US purchasing power parity terms). Emission data from BPs Statistical review of World Energy. GDP and population data from IMF. Time series start in 1981 (on left) and continue to 2016 (on right). Dots show 2009, in the wake of the GFC. Source: The Conversation.

Worryingly, relative to 2005 levels our energy sector emissions are up about 10%, which stands in stark contrast to most other advanced economies, and especially the US, down 12% over the same interval.

National energy sector emissions for select advanced economies, relative to 2005 levels, using data from BPs latest Statistical Review of World Energy released in June. Australias Paris commitment is to reduce national emissions to 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. Note that for Australia energy sector emissions (including transport and power) account for about 2/3 the total emissions.

So the notion that we are on track to meet Paris is, at best, notional.

To achieve such extraordinary wholesale price outcomes, one might imagine something remarkable had happened to our energy system since 2014. OurCoal-conssuch as Craig Kelly would believe it is because our power system is groaning under the weight of renewable production.

But maybe its the absence of renewables. Or maybe it is both, peskily masked in a cloak of invisibility.

Check out the figure below, which shows our electricity production by key fuel group (coal, gas and renewables) over the period since our power prices have risen from the lowest to highest on the international pecking order.

Weekly average production of electricity by three main fuel group types (in gigawatts), dispatched on the National Electricity Market over the last five years. Data sourced from AEMO, using Dylan McConnells openNEM. RE (renewables) includes hydro, wind and large scale solar and biomass, but not rooftop PV which is not dispatched onto the market. Source: The Conversation.

Can you determine a trend that could account for anything? Im damned if I can.

And that in itself is sure to be worry enough to keep it open season onnotion buildingfor a long time to come.

Source:The Conversation. Reproduced with permission.

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Notion-building pollies declare open season for energy theories ... - RenewEconomy

Haley Gustafson | Daily Press Delta Solid Waste Management Authority (DSWMA) Manager Don Pyle, second from right, explains the various recycling processes at the Delta County Recycling Center as State Senator Tom Casperson, far left, State Rep. Beau LaFave, and State Rep. Scott Dianda, far right, listen during their visit to the center Wednesday morning.

ESCANABA Government officials took a tour of the Delta County Recycling Center in Escanaba Wednesday morning to learn about the recycling processes, methods, and overall goals of the center.

Manager of the Delta Solid Waste Management Authority (DSWMA) Don Pyle took State Senator Tom Casperson, Rep. Beau LaFave, and Rep. Scott Dianda around the facility, showcasing each aspect of the center and how the operation runs in Delta County.

My goal is to show you a little bit of what we do here at this facility, said Pyle.

Throughout the guided tour, Pyle gave a brief description of each resource managed at the facility, including the use of Lakestate Industries workers to sort through the recyclable materials before they are bundled and shipped away. Lakestate provides people within Delta County who have disabilities the opportunity to work within the community, and Pyle said having them work at the recycling center provides valuable jobs to those people. Over 50 people from Lakestate work at the center.

Pyle explained that the recycling center accepts a variety of paper, plastic, aluminum cans, and cardboard items that are sorted through a single stream method. The items are then placed into bins where they go into a baler to be cubed and shipped away. In addition to paper products, the center also accepts old electronics such as TVs and computers, household hazardous waste, drain oil, paint, and much more.

Pyle also spoke with the elected officials about the cost of keeping a recycling center fully functional, noting that the newly enacted recycling millage in Delta County has generated about $327,000 since the millage took full effect in January. It was approved by voters in Delta County last August.

The millage, which increased taxes for Delta County residents by 0.3 mills (30 cents per $1,000 of taxable value) for 10 years, will help fund the DSWMAs recycling, composting, and household hazardous waster disposal services.

One of the biggest issues Pyle sees within the recycling industry is the lack of education and information provided to the general public and legislatures.

There needs to be a lot more education and a lot more political will, said Pyle, adding that with recycling comes the need to research and develop other methods of disposing garbage and other materials.

Casperson agreed with Pyle, noting there tends to be a tunnel visioned way of thinking about recycling and there should be a more expansive thought process of what to do with materials that could be made into something else of valuable worth.

We need to start asking Whats the best thing to use that for?said Casperson, adding it is cheaper to log a load of wood and haul it to a paper mill than it is to process paper for recycling.

Also in attendance for the tour was the executive director for the Michigan Recycling Coalition, Kerrin OBrien.

According to the coalition website, The Michigan Recycling Coalition (MRC) represents recycling and composting interests statewide. The Coalition is a recognized authority on waste reduction, beneficial utilization, recycling, and composting through the experience of its Staff and Committees.

OBrien explained that currently Michigan has a 15 percent recycling rate and the coalition is looking to increase that rate by another at least another 15 percent. In order to reach that goal, OBrien said the state needs to look at its recycling policies, as some are 40 years old.

We need to shift our focus from a waste economy to a resource used based economy, said OBrien.

In 2014, 8.4 million tons of waste was disposed and 1.4 million tons of material was recycled in Michigan.

LOVELOCK, Nev. (AP) O.J. Simpson was granted parole Thursday after more than eight years in prison for a Las ...

ESCANABA Escanaba City Council voted to amend the citys ordinance to reduce the number of days fireworks can ...

LOVELOCK, Nev. (AP) O.J. Simpson was granted parole Thursday after more than eight years in prison for a Las ...

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Elected officials visit recycling center - Escanaba Daily Press

FILE PHOTO Houses in the Green Bay area of West Kelowna are surrounded by water on Tuesday May 23, 2017. GARY NYLANDER / The Daily Courier

As the heat of summer swings into full effect, most British Columbians are thinking only of vacations and long lazy days at their local swimming holes or favourite beaches. But for the leaders of our new government, holidays are likely one of the furthest things from their minds as they begin the daunting task of setting priorities and the work agenda ahead.

No shortage of pressing issues and challenges will demand this new governments attention as it looks to fulfil its platform commitments to change and renewal. But water is one issue that matters most to many communities across B.C.

The province is endowed with a rich freshwater heritage that is vitally important to all British Columbians. For Indigenous peoples, water is not only the foundation of their constitutionally-protected rights, but also integral to connections to the land, spiritual and physical well-being, and community and economic development. Communities across the province rely on abundant and clean fresh water for quality of life, healthy ecosystems and vibrant economies.

Waters uneven distribution over the landscape and its seasonal and annual variability pose real challenges for water management in the province. Until recently, sustainable water management in British Columbia was only ever a secondary consideration to the priority of building the provincial resource-based economy. Past (and even current) dominant management practices struck an unsustainable balance, based primarily on draining, channelling, damming, and diverting water out of streams, lakes and aquifers, and dumping waste back into those systems. In the process, watersheds have become fragmented and natural capital has been degraded.

As devastating fires blaze through the Interior only weeks after stories of severe flooding dominated headlines, we are reminded yet again what the new normal of more frequent and extreme events might look like in the province: The implications of climate change on our freshwater systems and community well-being are severe.

Even before these extreme events, water security and concern that not enough is being done to protect water resources have ranked high as priorities for the public. In a comprehensive 2013 poll, 93 per cent of British Columbians stated that water is our most precious natural resource, and indicated a low degree of confidence that current management approaches are adequate to ensure freshwater security.

Water underpins the myriad issues of the day from energy production, to agriculture, to drinking water security. It is the foundation of any sustainable integrated resource development and management regime.

Building a bold new water agenda must be a top priority for our new government. To address British Columbias pressing water challenges and position itself as a freshwater leader resilient to a changing climate and responsive to local needs B.C. must change both water management (on-the-ground activities) and governance (processes of decision-making and holding decision makers to account).

Fortunately, B.C.s new leaders will not be starting from scratch: the previous government introduced the Water Sustainability Act in 2016 to improve water management and decision-making in B.C., including regulating groundwater use and enabling protection of water flows for fish and ecosystems. This initiative, however, is only partly complete. Many of its most important components, like watershed planning and a robust regime to protect ecological flows, still require implementation with adequate resourcing and independent oversight.

Now is a critical moment of opportunity for our leaders to build on the foundation of the Water Sustainability Act and set B.C. on a course toward a sustainable freshwater future.

To offer support to government, our team at the POLIS Water Sustainability Project at the University of Victoria has set out a ten-step plan that provides the specific elements and actions required for meaningful progress on a new water agenda for B.C. In addition to full implementation of the new provincial water legislation, this agenda provides direction to ensure sufficient funds to deliver on a comprehensive program, engage Indigenous governments as partners in governing and managing fresh water, build resilience through protecting vital natural systems, provide the necessary science and information to make informed evidence-based decisions and ensure competent and independent oversight and accountability.

With a revitalized water agenda, B.C. can expect growing water security, increased public confidence through evidence-based decisions, decreased conflicts as natural capital is protected, and greater ability to adapt to the oncoming changes in climate.

As B.C.s new government settles into the hard work of building the path forward for the province, our message is simple: Get the water right and the rest will follow. Our communities, economies, ecosystems and future generations depend on it.

Oliver M. Brandes is co-Director of University of Victorias POLIS Project on Ecological Governance at the Centre for Global Studies. Jon ORiordan is the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management and POLIS Strategic Water Policy Advisor. Rosie Simms is the Water Law and Policy Researcher with POLIS. They recently authored and released A Revitalized Water Agenda for British Columbias Circular Economy to catalyze action on water in B.C.

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Opinion: Splash of innovation a new water agenda for BC - Vancouver Sun

Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI),has expressed concern that Nigeria posts the least record in oil revenue savings, among resource based countries, as it is currently advocating a robust policy to save portion of oil and gas revenue for the rainy day and for inter generational equity.

NEITI therefore suggested urgent measures to be taken by all tiers of government to include the immediate transfer of all revenue savings in the stabilisation fund and the Excess Crude Account into the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund.

But Oil and Gas industry experts said the country could not havebeen expected to have good savings whenthe governors are always interested in sharing whatever the countries earns as revenue to the detriment of futuregenerations.

NEITI insists that recommendations for a Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund Model is stemmed from the fact that of its more transparent model,it is well structured and having a better clarity for some re-investments to grow the wealth. He notes that NSWF scores 90% in terms of transparency in mangement structure in continental ratings.

Waziri Adio,the Executive Secretary of NEITI said if Nigeria has imbibed the culture of savings overtime, it would had some buffer to shielf it from the perennial economic recession that it is presently suffering from.

The Executive Secretary during a presentation to Newsmen titled:The case for a robust oil savings fund for Nigeria,lamented that inspite of the benefits and the huge revenues that have accrued from oil and gas over the years,Nigeria has one of the lowest resource savings in the world.

Take the volatility of the oil price and know you dont have control over it.Take the exhaustion of the oil resources which is already known fact that in the next 38 years we could cease to exist.But what we do with the money we are getting now from the oil is what we have control over,and we must do it wellAdio said.

He suggested Norway,as a key country experience where Nigeria could learn from,whom he said commenced the culture of savings well before it discovered oil.

Norway, a country of 5.2 million people has a sovereign wealth fund worth $922 billion,Chile $24 billion,Angola $4.6 billion and Botswana $5.7 billion.Others are Russia $89.9 billion and Kuwait $592 billion.

Dirran Fawibe, the chairman andchief executive officer of International Energy Servicetold BusinessDay the situation isnotunexpected because thecountryeats all that she earns as revenues.

He said the governors are always agitating that the revenue that comes to the federation account must be shared without thinking of the raining day.

Allthe effortsof Okonjo Iweala , theformer ministerfor Financeto make thegovernorsseereasons for thecountryto have structuredSovereign Wealth Fundwas rebuffedasthe memberoftheNational assemblydont feelconcerned aboutsavingfor the future.

Another chief executive of an oil company but does not want his name mentioned said what did you expect from corrupt governments that have governed this country over the years.Most of the past governments that have ruled this country are aware of how some of the resourced based countries such as Norway, Saudi Arabia have made good savings for their futuregenerations from oil revenues. But they turned deaf ears to suggestions from experts and shared everything each time, he said

Rotimi Amaechi, the current Minister of Transport said that when he was the chairman of the Nigerian GovernorsForum, the governors demanded the sharing of money from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the last federal government because it was not properly managed

He explained further: In 2009, we had an economic crisis so President Yaradua put $1billion in the economy so no one felt the crisis. I cant remember what was left in that account, the excess crude account. During Goodluck Jonathan, every month when the governors went for the economic council meeting, the amount in the account kept dropping. If we asked about what happened to the money, the response we got was that the president approved for it to be spent. So we said can we please share this money because the rate at which it was going, the president would have continually approved $1billion to spend and we wont know what we are spending for and they wont give us an account.

Nigeria it would be noted currently has three oil savings fund.They are Sovereign Wealth Fund with $1.5bn,the Excess Crude Account with $2.3 bn and the stabilisation fund with N29.02bn($95M).

Suggesting way forward in his presentation,the Executive Secretary recommended that government should,Initiate amendment to sector 162 of the constitution to accomodate the welfare of future generations.The constitutional option is necessary to ensure that the rules are not subjected to political fluidity.The negotiations need to be complemented with appropriate guarantees for transparent and accountable governance of the funds to reasures stakeholders especially at the sub-national level

He also recommend in his presentations the need to delink government expenditure from oil revenues to support policy initiatives that pursues prudent macro-economic policies,better economic and social environment for the next generation.This is in addition to ensuring that there is constant savings whether oil prices are high or low and provide regular payouts from the returns on investments of the funds to compensate beneficiaries (the three tiers of government)for their sacrifice.

Olusola Belloand HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA

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Nigeria ranks least in oil revenue savings, among resource-based countries NEITI - BusinessDay (satire) (press release) (registration) (blog)

THE Federal Government has announced its readiness to create additional Leather Research and Development Centres in other geo-political zones of Nigeria so as to complement the existing ones.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, announced this in Abuja during the matriculation and inauguration of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST) North Central Regional Leather R&D Cluster Extension Centre and official training infrastructure.

He said the processes that would enhance the establishment of these centres had reached advanced stages, and it was expected to help strengthen greater grassroots participation in leather technology, thereby helping to stimulate more indigenous capacity for the ultimate benefit of the people.

He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to the birth of a new national development order for the nation that would be science, technology and innovation driven.

Onu said this would help move the Nigeria economy from being resource based to become knowledge based and innovation driven, needed to lay a solid foundation for the transformation of the nation so as to attain the greatness she desired and deserved.

The minister emphasised that this was why the government had decided that it would create additional centres in other zones of the country, where none currently existed.

Earlier, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, whose message was delivered by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Abuja Enterprises Agency, Malam Tukur Arabi, said leather was Nigeria`s second highest revenue source after oil, thus the need to diversify into Leather Value Chain (LVC).

I believe it is the reason why the LVC cluster has been established to improve the value and promote awareness of leather as a prime resource in Nigeria, he said.

He then encouraged all stakeholders to pursue vigorously the establishment of the centre, which would enable quality control over the hides and skin from the farm.

Acting Director General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NILEST, Dr Eucharia Ngozi Oparah, called on Federal Government to give the agency the needed support to carry out her mandate of training and research in the field of leather and leather products.

For a sustainable growth in the leather and leather products national economy, the institution should also empowered and converted to a degree awarding institution because the highest qualification currently awarded by the institution is Higher National Diploma (HND), the DG stressed.

FCT minister issues 2-month deadline to Bwari fish farm estate

FCTA pays contractors over N57 bn outstanding obligations

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FG to create additional leather research centres across geo-political zones - NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (press release) (blog)

tienne Schneider, deputy prime minister of Luxembourg, said passage of the law "reinforces its position as a European hub" for the emerging space resources industry. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust

WASHINGTON The government of Luxembourg has passed a bill giving companies the rights to space resources they extract from asteroids or other celestial bodies.

The parliament of Luxembourg, a unicameral body known as the Chamber of Deputies, voted 55 to 2 in favor of the space resources law July 13. Passage of the bill means the act will become law on Aug. 1.

Luxembourg is the first adopter in Europe of a legal and regulatory framework recognizing that space resources are capable of being owned by private companies, tienne Schneider, deputy prime minister and minister of the economy, said in a statement. The Grand Duchy thus reinforces its position as a European hub for the exploration and use of space resources.

The law, which the government has been working on since last year, grants companies operating out of the country ownership of space resources they extract, similar to provisions in the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which became law in the U.S. in November 2015.

Space resources are capable of being appropriated, the first article of the Luxembourg act states, according to an English translation provided by the government.

The rest of the act sets up a system for the government to authorize and supervise resource extraction and other space activities, with the exception of communications satellites, which are regulated by other laws in the country.

Passage of the law was expected. Schneider, speaking at an event organized by the Luxembourg government in New York in June, predicted that the parliament would pass the law by July. He said then that the law was similar in scope to the U.S. law, with the exception that companies need not be based in Luxembourg to take advantage of its provisions.

Both the U.S. and Luxembourg laws grant ownership to resources only after they have been extracted, avoiding potential conflicts with the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits companies from claiming territory on celestial bodies. Nonetheless, the U.S. law has been criticized by some nations in forums like the U.N.s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

In its statement about the new space resources act, the Luxembourg government states that, in addition to the law, it seeks to promote international cooperation in order to progress on a future governance scheme and a global regulatory framework of space resources utilization. An example of that work cited in the release is an agreement with the European Space Agency on studies of space resource exploration and utilization.

The passage of the law is the latest milestone for Luxembourgs SpaceResources.lu initiative, which seeks to make the country a key player in the emerging space resources industry. The country has committed to spent at least 200 million euros ($230 million) on the effort, including making investments in asteroid mining companies in exchange for them setting up offices in Luxembourg.

One of those companies is Planetary Resources, based near Seattle but with a European office in Luxembourg. Luxembourgs new space resources law provides Planetary Resources with a strong basis for stability and predictability for our current and future asteroid mining operations, said Peter Marquez, acting general manager of the company, in a July 13 statement.

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Luxembourg adopts space resources law - SpaceNews.com - SpaceNews