Richard Branson
(1950)
British entrepreneur, founder of Virgin (records, airways ect)
Nov 2005 - Richard Branson thinks that the biofuel is the future of fuel, and within 30 years will replace fossil fuels.
At the Abu Dhabi World Leadership summit Richard Branson said that the fleet of his company Virgin Atlantic Airways is going to use biofuels produced from plant waste.
In an interview with a reporter from Reuters he said, that he was looking for alternative fuel sources and that even he was planning to start building cellulosic ethanol plants (to make) fuel that is derived from the waste product of the plant. He believes that the future of fuel is in this environmentally friendly technology, which over the next 20 or 30 years actually will replace the conventional fuel.
The idea of producing biofuels from waste biomass is not new, but only in the recent time it has been shaped into a realizable form. In the countries where it is possible to obtain two annual crops the issue was not as "hot" as in the northern countries. The South could cover its demand for fuels by local crops processed in the traditional way to ethanol used as a fuel (i.e. Brazil). The next generation of biofuels may be easier for northern countries to produce economically.
Instead of getting fuel from sugar or oil-a tiny part of the total plant-upstart companies are building new factories that convert a plant's entire "biomass" into fuel. Present fermentation technology leaves the cellulose-a stiff material that gives plants their structure-as waste. (In the case of biodiesel, oil is pressed from the seeds; the rest of the plant is discarded.) Last fall, Canadian firm Iogen inaugurated the world's first commercial plant that takes leftover straw from surrounding farms and turns it into ethanol. The trick is to use genetically engineered enzymes-only now becoming cheaply available-that can convert the cellulose in straw to glucose, which is then fermented to produce ethanol. Shell Oil has invested $46 million for Iogen to complete a bigger facility that will produce 200,000 tons of ethanol a year-at an estimated cost of $1.30 per gallon-once it goes online in 2008.
In Germany, Volkswagen is financing Choren Industries, which is developing a process to synthesize a premium-quality diesel fuel from the cellulose in trees and straw. Cars at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters already use the fuel from Choren's pilot facility, and a commercial-size plant will go online in 2007. "This will drastically cut the amount of land needed to produce biofuels," says VW's Steiger.
2001 - Richard Branson: "I'dd sell Cannabis"
Virgin boss Richard Branson said last night that he would sell legalised cannabis in his stores but not tobacco because it is too dangerous.
He said his company would not want to get involved in selling ordinary cigarettes - but he would not rule out promoting cannabis if the law allowed it because it was probably less harmful than tobacco.
The millionaire businessman said that to encourage youngsters to smoke would be ‘immoral’. But although he was not advocating the sale of cannabis if it was legalised, he added: "If a cigarette company started selling it at too high a price, I’m sure we’d be in there."
Last year Branson was among 100 prominent people who signed a public declaration in favour of the decriminilisation of cannabis. They also included former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, public relations guru Max Clifford, author Martin Amis and veteran playwright Harold Pinter.
Branson, whose commercial activities range from air travel to condoms, was speaking on the importance of product brands on ‘The Money Programme’ on BBC2 last night.
Asked about cannabis, he said: "I personally think it should be legalised. I think it’s wrong that 100,000 young people have criminal records every year for doing something which is no worse than their parents are doing every night - drinking alcohol."
source: MarijuanaNews.com
April 1998 - British Protest To Legalize Marijuana Draws 10,000 - London, England
Over 10,000 participants took to the streets of London on Saturday to show support for relaxing the nation's marijuana laws. The high profile protest, organized by the Independent on Sunday newspaper which is campaigning to decriminalize the drug, marked the first time in 30 years so many British citizens stood up for marijuana-law reform.
"The widespread turnout is not surprising," said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation. "Recent surveys and public opinion polls indicate that British voters solidly support legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational purposes."
"What we want to see is [Parliament] debating [legalizing marijuana] openly, freely, and weighing the evidence from the World Health Organization and from the British Medical Council," said Independent on Sunday editor Rosie Boycott, who attended the march. Recently, the campaign gained supporters in Parliament, as well as business giants Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways and Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
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