Scotland’s energy minister Fergus Ewing has announced a new £103 million investment fund designed to drive the growth of renewable energy in Scotland.

The Renewable Energy Investment Fund (REIF) will initially focus on supporting communities and rural businesses to develop their own local renewable projects. It will also support district heating, and wave and tidal developers with the development and deployment of array projects.

Air Products today announced it has acquired advanced adsorption technology assets for its generated gases product lines from Xebec Adsorption, Inc.

Air Products has purchased the technology, intellectual property and know-how related to structured adsorbents, beaded adsorbents, and rotary valves from Xebec, a publicly-traded Canadian company specializing in adsorption technology headquartered in Blainville, Quebec. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

South African mining giant Gold Fields has acquired a 40 per cent interest in the gold-copper Far Southeast Project in the Philippines, it has been announced.

In September 2010, Gold Fields entered into two option agreements with Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, which owns 60 per cent of Far Southeast; and Liberty Express Assets, which owns 40 per cent. The agreements granted Gold Fields an option to acquire a 60 per cent interest in Far Southeast for a total of $340 million.

Canadian engineering group SNC-Lavalin has signed a project management contract with Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) for the Delta Caribe Oriental Project, valued at C$133 million.

The project is in the Sucre State in northeastern Venezuela and consists of four offshore gas fields; Dragon, Patao, Mejillones and Rio Caribe, as well as a substantial onshore development for industry, named Complejo Industrial Gran Mariscal Ayacucho (CIGMA).

Jacques Perron, president and CEO of St Andrew Goldfields, talks about the company’s progress in bringing three mines into production in the Timmins area of Ontario, and prospects for further development.

The city of Timmins in northeast Ontario celebrates its centenary this year. Founded in 1912 by Noah Timmins after gold was found in the Porcupine Camp, it has since earned itself a reputation as the city with a heart of gold, lying within the Abitibi greenstone belt, the heart of gold production in Canada.

McGill University Health Centre is planning to deliver a new standard of healthcare at the Glen Site in Montreal. Robert Hamilton, senior director of Glen Campus Development and Imma Franco, associate director of planning tell Richard Halfhide how.

Keeping a brand popular for 100 years when the content is essentially the same year on year, and where there is no shortage of competitors, requires a level of commitment way beyond what is normally found, as Alan Swaby discovers.

Despite living in a mercenary world, there are often individual acts of altruism that take us by surprise and remind us that not everyone is fixated on self-aggrandizement. When these voluntary acts involve a whole city, that’s something special. And when it happens year after year… well, you get the picture.

Farming makes a major contribution to Brazil’s GDP and exports. Agro Amazonia’s director Roberto Motta explains to Gay Sutton how the company is helping farmers increase productivity, build a safer workplace, and reduce their impact on the fragile and precious natural environment.

Shell Iraq is part of a consortium working to significantly increase production at the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq. But the project has not been easy: some of the major challenges to date have included de-mining, safety and marsh preservation, as Becky Done discovers.