:00:25. > :00:33.Glasgow scientists think they had the answer. It is finally feeling
:00:33. > :00:37.the heat from the banking crisis. There are questions over
:00:37. > :00:42.competition on the High Street. A technology that could remove
:00:42. > :00:47.greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and put oil back under the North
:00:47. > :00:54.Sea. The Glasgow solar Fuels Group is a multi-million pound
:00:54. > :01:01.collaboration. Its aim is to convert solar energy into new East
:01:01. > :01:09.-- new fuels. The timescale? Before the oil runs out. First, our
:01:09. > :01:14.science correspondent, has this report. The sun gives its energy
:01:14. > :01:23.away for free. It heats up the atmosphere and makes the wind blow.
:01:23. > :01:26.We harness that power. What is the problem? There are two problems.
:01:26. > :01:31.Solar-powered may make it relatively easy to generate
:01:31. > :01:37.electricity but it is difficult to store. Sometimes, when you need it
:01:37. > :01:44.most, the wind stops blowing. Sometimes the sun shines, sometimes
:01:44. > :01:49.it does not. The problem is with storage. When you make electricity
:01:49. > :01:56.you have to use it straight away. Fuel gives you stored energy that
:01:56. > :02:02.you can access whenever you want. Hour of work looks at Fotis entasis
:02:03. > :02:08.- the one major chemical process on the planet - that takes renewable
:02:08. > :02:16.energy in the form of solar energy and turns it into a fuel. That
:02:16. > :02:22.seems straightforward enough. had two tubes set up. We had two
:02:22. > :02:28.electrodes in water. We're putting electricity through the electrodes.
:02:28. > :02:38.It is ripping the water apart. It is turning water into hydrogen and
:02:38. > :02:38.
:02:38. > :02:48.oxygen. It is a very well-known reaction. The trouble with hydrogen,
:02:48. > :02:52.
:02:52. > :03:00.it does not still well in large The airship, Hindenburg, was full
:03:00. > :03:05.of hydrogen. We work inspired from discussions we had with our
:03:05. > :03:12.colleagues in biology about how could be split water and tried to
:03:12. > :03:17.make devices? We have a chemical that acts as a battery. We are able
:03:17. > :03:22.to split water. Rather than producing hydrogen and oxygen at
:03:22. > :03:27.the same time, we could lock hydrogen up in the water in a
:03:27. > :03:37.special material and make the precursor for a fuel. If I show you
:03:37. > :03:38.
:03:38. > :03:43.their fuel, it is an intensely blue coloured material. It looks like a
:03:43. > :03:47.boil. Voters and the Sears is a highly inefficient process. Glasgow
:03:47. > :03:57.researchers want to improve on nature. There are billions of
:03:57. > :04:01.
:04:01. > :04:08.5th and will release the CO2 into the atmosphere. That is a
:04:08. > :04:12.greenhouse gas. We combine it with carbon to create a new field. It
:04:12. > :04:17.would also created, the big difference is that the carbon can
:04:17. > :04:24.be used again to capture more solar energy. It would be a closed carbon
:04:24. > :04:34.cycle. One source of carbon could be another emerging technology,
:04:34. > :04:41.carbon capture. They are ideally placed for what they see as the
:04:41. > :04:48.next step. We are making a fuel based on CO2, so we'll have a
:04:48. > :04:54.proper cycle of carbon. You bring the atmosphere back into balance,
:04:54. > :05:04.and that is exactly what we need. The major problem is that you can't
:05:04. > :05:06.
:05:06. > :05:13.live an aeroplane on electricity. - - fly an airplane. You need fuel.
:05:13. > :05:23.There is billions of carbon in the apse at this there. That match a's
:05:23. > :05:24.
:05:25. > :05:34.atmosphere. You have a lot of pipelines, empty oil wells. If you
:05:34. > :05:38.can produce a massive offshore wind, and use that electricity, you could
:05:38. > :05:44.intercept summer that carbon, and activated. In the end, if you
:05:44. > :05:52.imagine a cycle way you are able to replace the field today with some
:05:52. > :06:01.light tomorrow, -- some light tomorrow, we have a balanced cycle.
:06:01. > :06:09.We can put that CO2 back in the ground. We would safely store while
:06:09. > :06:18.backing the will Wells. This is not science fiction, but it is not yet
:06:18. > :06:22.signed spat. It will take tens of years, and billions of pounds.
:06:22. > :06:27.have got the concept, we know we want to start from. We are doing
:06:27. > :06:31.work on the various areas. We know we want to get to, but we don't
:06:31. > :06:36.know how to get there. The excitement is to develop that
:06:36. > :06:42.research, to actually do this. One of the things that we are doing is
:06:42. > :06:52.to try and enthuse young people, so they come with the new ideas to
:06:52. > :06:53.
:06:53. > :07:00.help us tackle this. The research required has been likened to a new
:07:00. > :07:07.Apollo programme, it will need if Investment and political well.
:07:07. > :07:13.Business and politics are notoriously short-term focus.
:07:13. > :07:23.I'm joined by profession a league Cronin, who saw in that film. --
:07:23. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:30.Professor League Cronin. The idea is to have a liquid fuel. If by an
:07:30. > :07:39.understanding this correctly, the root problem is that photosynthesis
:07:39. > :07:44.is very slow and inefficient, and what you need to do is to find a
:07:44. > :07:48.she then engineered version? That is right. It produces feel, that
:07:48. > :07:53.takes 100 years to get there, and we are burning her through that
:07:53. > :07:57.right now. The idea is to take the sunlight, the energy that comes to
:07:57. > :08:07.the planet every day, and can that that in real time. You have to
:08:07. > :08:13.speed that up. Is that the bit that you can't do, or have you made any
:08:13. > :08:22.advances? All of it is feasible. There are two major issues, you
:08:22. > :08:26.have to use precious metal to do its. We are trying to remove those
:08:26. > :08:35.precious metals. The second thing is that you have to activate the
:08:35. > :08:40.CO2, that is tough,. We need to find some sides to make that happen
:08:40. > :08:50.very fast. An issue in Scotland is that there is not much sun, there
:08:50. > :08:58.
:08:58. > :09:06.is a lot of wind. How can we go from electricity to -- from
:09:06. > :09:14.electricity to feel. We are also looking at using microbes. You can
:09:14. > :09:24.plug them into a windmill, and you can get feel out of them. Are you
:09:24. > :09:26.
:09:26. > :09:30.looking pattern in organic form? can do that, we have tried to make
:09:30. > :09:40.the process more general, using electricity to take water out of
:09:40. > :09:41.
:09:41. > :09:49.light. We can then ploughed back into renewable sources. -- plug
:09:49. > :09:59.about him. The there is a bit of the cycle that I find fascinating.
:09:59. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:06.If the use cost less energy to fuel the photosynthesis process, and the
:10:07. > :10:14.use sunlight, even if you end up with hydrocarbon, if the energy
:10:14. > :10:21.going in is less than you get out, because that is costless, that
:10:21. > :10:25.wouldn't really matter? We could probably do this. It would be very
:10:25. > :10:34.expensive, and we have a race, there is a waste to supply our
:10:34. > :10:39.energy needs, burning fossil fuels, and putting carbon dioxide in the
:10:39. > :10:43.atmosphere. We have to think about intermediate solutions. People want
:10:43. > :10:49.to bury CO2, that is a questionable thing to do, because of all sorts
:10:49. > :10:52.of issues. If we could bury it, and intercept it, to turn her back into
:10:52. > :10:56.a fuel, we would take the fossil out of the field, and burning car
:10:56. > :11:04.that does not give you a hangover. The other thing about this cycle,
:11:04. > :11:14.it would be a bit like wood-burning, it is neutral? Exactly. You would
:11:14. > :11:17.
:11:17. > :11:26.be using the field you end up with to displace the use fuel. It is
:11:26. > :11:32.expensive to extract fossil feel. If you were leaving it there, your
:11:32. > :11:35.idea would be a machine which extracts CO2 brother Alastair? The
:11:35. > :11:44.second effect would be, if this was to work, we could carry on taking
:11:44. > :11:47.that out of the atmosphere. At the very worst it would cause
:11:47. > :11:55.catastrophic climate change, we could remove that, rather than be
:11:55. > :12:00.other solutions. Realistically, given the problems you have
:12:00. > :12:09.described, getting this photosynthesis to work, what sort
:12:09. > :12:15.of timescale is it even feasible to talk about? It comes down to cost.
:12:15. > :12:19.We are really well placed in the UK, and in Scotland, to start to ask
:12:19. > :12:27.these questions, and bring together the right people. There is
:12:27. > :12:36.political will in the UK and Scotland. Decades is in tears? --
:12:37. > :12:39.isn't it? We are talking about 30- The news that the owners of the
:12:39. > :12:42.Clydesdale Bank were reviewing the business immediately raised fears
:12:42. > :12:45.of significant job losses. Up until now the bank has avoided the worst
:12:45. > :12:48.of the banking crisis by opting for more conservative lending. Now its
:12:48. > :12:51.parent company, the National Australia Bank, says it can't go on
:12:51. > :12:56.as it is, in a decision that could have far reaching consequences for
:12:56. > :13:01.banking on the high street. Clydesdale Bank has always been
:13:01. > :13:07.seen as a bit staid and boring. In the context of what has been
:13:07. > :13:12.happening at the other banks in Scotland, it is a bit of a
:13:12. > :13:17.compliment. The Clydesdale plodded along and no one paid it a blind
:13:17. > :13:23.bit of attention. It has been clear that all is not as simple as it has
:13:23. > :13:29.seemed to. Its Australian owners wanted to restructure or sell the
:13:29. > :13:34.bank. There was talk of selling at 20 British bank and then talk of a
:13:34. > :13:38.credit downgrade. National Australian Bank topped up the
:13:39. > :13:43.reserves of Clydesdale and its pension fund and the banks stopped
:13:43. > :13:52.lending in the risky commercial property area. This needs to be
:13:52. > :13:57.seen in the broader industry context. Santander has taken over
:13:57. > :14:02.several hundred RBS branches. Northern Rock has been sold to
:14:02. > :14:08.burgeon Macro. If Clydesdale is on the market, it could become a
:14:08. > :14:14.significant player. That clearly would not work if it was sold to
:14:14. > :14:19.Lloyds of RBS, who already have many Scottish branches. Barclays
:14:19. > :14:23.and HSBC do not. There are businessmen on the prowl looking to
:14:23. > :14:29.be Britain's next generation of bankers. Last night National
:14:29. > :14:33.Australia Bank said it did not think that Clydesdale was
:14:33. > :14:35.sustainable as it is so something has to give up. With me now is Dr
:14:35. > :14:40.Robert Webb, a banking and economics lecturer from Glasgow
:14:40. > :14:45.Caledonian University. Given these various statements and given that,
:14:45. > :14:50.in effect, Clydesdale was put up for sale last year and they could
:14:50. > :14:55.not agree terms, do think that is the most likely outcome? I do not
:14:55. > :15:01.think anyone knows what will happen. They are trying to position the
:15:01. > :15:06.bank to sell it off to the highest bidder. One strategy presumably
:15:06. > :15:11.could be to cut it back. They are trying to pull out of the business
:15:11. > :15:17.banking arm where they are not making any profits. Once they have
:15:17. > :15:23.realigned into the retail business, there will have a look at a new
:15:23. > :15:28.purchaser. This is in context of a new shake-up in high-street banking.
:15:28. > :15:33.The whole sector is finding funding very difficult to come by. Funding
:15:33. > :15:37.has increased in cost and they are having to look at each business
:15:37. > :15:43.summer make sure everything makes a profit. Just for those of our
:15:43. > :15:49.listeners who are not bankers quite you presumably a talking about the
:15:49. > :15:54.borrowing that a bank makes in order to fund lending... What
:15:54. > :16:00.lenders are concerned about is that it -- be stability of the funding
:16:00. > :16:05.from mainly deposits. They wanted to be long-term and stable as
:16:05. > :16:13.opposed to the capriciousness our financial markets. They need to
:16:13. > :16:18.make the maximum return from each of their sectors. And not use what
:16:18. > :16:24.Vince Cable uses the casino bit. The problem is everyone is playing
:16:24. > :16:29.the same game. They're trying to get into long-term funding.
:16:29. > :16:33.seems to be an ambition of the Government in London, who
:16:33. > :16:36.incidentally probably will not thank National Australia full
:16:36. > :16:41.blaming the Government's austerity policies as one of the reasons they
:16:42. > :16:48.might want to get out of Britain... Based seem to want a new major
:16:48. > :16:56.player in the High Street. It looks like the colour or takeover 700
:16:56. > :17:01.branches of Lloyds HBOS. -- the Co- op could takeover. I am unsure. I
:17:01. > :17:05.do not know how they will increase competition given the regulations
:17:05. > :17:12.from Europe and from the Vickers Report published before Christmas.
:17:12. > :17:17.I do not know the answer to it. I do not know who will purchase
:17:17. > :17:26.Clydesdale to make it competitive. The people who were before where
:17:26. > :17:32.these new groups of individuals. They were openly interested.
:17:32. > :17:38.problem is that Clydesdale making decent money out of the retail arm.
:17:38. > :17:43.It is in commercial property they are losing. The retail arm, if
:17:43. > :17:51.someone is going to take that, they will still find conditions quite
:17:51. > :17:57.difficult. What you're saying about difficult conditions, with Tesco's,
:17:57. > :18:02.everyone thought they were the obvious players. They have said
:18:02. > :18:08.they're not introducing a current account for 12 months. Where they
:18:08. > :18:18.finding it difficult? Costs are rising. -- why are they finding?
:18:18. > :18:19.
:18:20. > :18:25.The return via making from their assets are falling. -- they are
:18:25. > :18:35.making. In the Herald: It says there has been a huge drop in blade
:18:35. > :18:42.the fences. In the Financial Times, it is about the big mining merger
:18:42. > :18:52.which is threatened. In the Independent, a last ditch fight to
:18:52. > :18:58.
:18:58. > :19:06.save the NHS reforms in England. I Good evening. It is turning into a
:19:06. > :19:12.bitterly cold night. It could get as low as minus 15. A very cold
:19:12. > :19:18.start to the day. They could be snow flurries in the east. A bright
:19:18. > :19:28.start in the North of England. It will feel cold. Other smirk in the
:19:28. > :19:28.
:19:28. > :19:33.south eastern corner. There will be a raw north wind. It will be a fine
:19:33. > :19:39.and bright day with long spells of sunshine. It will be cold,
:19:39. > :19:46.especially in the breeze. More strength to the sunshine. It will
:19:46. > :19:52.probably feel a bit less chilly. A bit milder compared with the rest
:19:52. > :19:57.of the country. The same in northern and western Scotland. The
:19:57. > :20:03.south and east of Scotland should be dry and bright. Into Thursday,
:20:03. > :20:08.will notice some rain. Temperatures will start to lift up. Not much