Bbc how it works
Bbc how it works
Bbc how it works
The power station, on the island of Islay, is the product of years of research into how to effectively harvest energy from the world’s oceans.
The UK was one of the world’s leaders in developing wave power until a series of setbacks coupled with a lack of funding scuppered promising projects following initial enthusiasm in the late 1970s.
But supporters of the wave power project believe that with climate change in the headlines, the timing could not be better.
The Islay wave power generator was designed and built by Wavegen and researchers from Queen’s University in Belfast and has financial backing from the European Union.
Known as Limpet 500 (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer), it will feed 500 kilowatts of electricity into the island’s grid.
Limpet was born out of a 10-year research project on the island where the team had built a demonstration plant capable of generating 75 Kilowatts of electricity.
The power generator consists of two basic elements:
The energy collector comprises a sloping reinforced shell built into the rock face on the shoreline with an inlet big enough to allow seawater to freely enter and leave a central chamber.
As waves enter the shell chamber, the level of water rises, compressing the air in the top of the chamber.
This air is then forced through a «blowhole» and into the «Wells Turbine», designed by Professor Alan Wells of Queen’s University.
The turbine has been designed to continue turning the same way irrespective of the direction of the airflow.
As the water inside the chamber recedes as the waves outside draw back, the air is sucked back under pressure into the chamber, keeping the turbine moving.
This constant stream of air in both directions, created by the oscillating water column, produces enough movement in the turbine to drive a generator which converts the energy into electricity.
But is it viable?
Wavegen says that there could be sufficient recoverable wave power around the UK to generate enough power to exceed domestic electricity demands.
That would probably involve large-scale wave plants in near-shore or off-shore environments, a technology still being developed.
However, large-scale on-shore wave power generating stations could face similar problems to those encountered by some windfarm projects, where opposition has focused on the aesthetic and noise impact of the machinery on the environment.
Wave power supporters say that the answer lies not in huge plants but in a combination of on-shore generation and near-shore generation (using a different technology) focused on meeting local or regional needs.
On-shore or near-shore plants, they argue, could also be designed as part of harbour walls or water-breaks, performing a dual role for a community.
Newsround
5 Feb 2021 5 February 2021
When the richest person in the world gives his support to a virtual currency you know it’s big business.
Elon Musk has told users of an online social media app that he thinks the virtual currency, Bitcoin, is a «good thing.»
His comments resulted in the value of Bitcoin rising significantly.
So much so, that a singular Bitcoin went from being worth £3,600 in March last year to more than £27,000 now.
As talk of the currency has gone global, the Bank of Singapore has suggested that the 12-year-old currency could replace gold as its store of value.
However, in October, the head of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, warned about the unpredictability of Bitcoin, saying it makes him, «very nervous».
Here’s everything you need to know.
It’s like an online version of cash. You can use it to buy products and services, but not many shops accept Bitcoin yet and some countries have banned it altogether.
However, some companies are beginning to buy into its growing influence.
In October last year, for example, the online payment service, PayPal, announced that it would be allowing its customers to buy and sell Bitcoin.
The physical Bitcoins you see in photos are a novelty. They would be worthless without the private codes printed inside them.
Each Bitcoin is basically a computer file which is stored in a ‘digital wallet’ app on a smartphone or computer.
People can send Bitcoins (or part of one) to your digital wallet, and you can send Bitcoins to other people.
Every single transaction is recorded in a public list called the blockchain.
This makes it possible to trace the history of Bitcoins to stop people from spending coins they do not own, making copies or undo-ing transactions.
There are three main ways people get Bitcoins.
In order for the Bitcoin system to work, people can make their computer process transactions for everybody.
The computers are made to work out incredibly difficult sums. Occasionally they are rewarded with a Bitcoin for the owner to keep.
People set up powerful computers just to try and get Bitcoins. This is called mining.
But the sums are becoming more and more difficult to stop too many Bitcoins being generated.
If you started mining now it could be years before you got a single Bitcoin.
You could end up spending more money on electricity for your computer than the Bitcoin would be worth.
There are lots of things other than money which we consider valuable like gold and diamonds. The Aztecs used cocoa beans as money!
Bitcoins are valuable because people are willing to exchange them for real goods and services, and even cash.
Some people like the fact that Bitcoin is not controlled by the government or banks.
People can also spend their Bitcoins fairly anonymously. Although all transactions are recorded, nobody would know which ‘account number’ was yours unless you told them.
In an online chat with social media users in January 2021, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, said he was a big supporter of Bitcoin.
He even went as far as to change his Twitter bio to «#bitcoin».
He has repeatedly shown his support to online currencies in recent years and caused major movements in their values due to his own personal wealth and influence.
This particular endorsement led to the value of Bitcoin to rise significantly.
Every transaction is recorded publicly so it’s very difficult to copy Bitcoins, make fake ones or spend ones you don’t own.
It is possible to lose your Bitcoin wallet or delete your Bitcoins and lose them forever. There have also been thefts from websites that let you store your Bitcoins remotely.
The value of Bitcoins has gone up and down over the years since it was created in 2009 and some people don’t think it’s safe to turn your ‘real’ money into Bitcoins.
This concern was expressed by the head of The Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, in October 2020.
He said that he was «very nervous» about people using Bitcoin for payments pointing out that investors should realise its price is extremely volatile.
By this, he meant that the value could drop significantly at any moment and investors could lose a lot of money.
How it works… BBC World TV and Radio
A breakdown of BBC World TV and Radio: the different programmes, what they cover and what they want from PRs.
BBC World News
BBC World News is the BBC’s international news and current affairs television channel. Broadcasting in 200 countries worldwide and 434 million TV households; BBC World News serves a weekly audience of 99 million viewers.
BBC World News has several programmes dedicated to business running throughout the day. The key shows include:
These Business programmes cover a range of topics including the latest business and economic news from around the world.
Programmes such as the Africa Business Report focus on the latest business news, technology tales and consumer trends from across Africa. It covers the themes driving African businesses that are investing at home and abroad; along with global businesses which are coming to Africa.
The Asia Business Report programme tells the big economic stories, bringing them to life and explaining how they affect Asia as a whole and you as an individual. Broadcast live from the BBC’s Singapore studio, there’s a team of locally-employed producers and reporters giving the region’s perspective on the world of business.
BBC World News is run by Neil Heathcote, who manages a team of six producers and presenters.
BBC World Service
BBC World Service, ‘the World’s Radio Station’, serves a unique, unduplicated audience of 51 million across 27 languages.
BBC World Service has 3 main radio programmes that focus on the business agenda.
The World Service Business team also produces business and economics news for the main World Service news programmes Newsday and Newshour. Producers and editors are always on the lookout for business content that reflects global business and economics trends.
World Service schedules are fiendishly complicated and vary from country to country and continent to continent. Martin Webber is the editor of World Service Radio Business coverage.
What do they want from PRs?
BBC World News and BBC World Service have a global outlook. Both are predominantly looking for stories on businesses that reflect global business and economics trends.
World Service in particular looks for business stories with an environmental angle. For example, how the price of solar energy is falling so more African countries are turning to solar.
Both World News and World Service are constantly on the lookout for good commentators on the news story of the day. Crucially they need you to be able to take your global story and make it relevant to a local audience.
If you want to pitch your stories to the BBC for coverage on World News or World Service you’ll need to ensure your stories resonate with the BBC’s global viewers.
Want to pitch your stories to BBC World News and BBC World Service?
Get a copy of our FREE eBook: The PR’s Guide to the BBC: The Business Edition, covering the key areas of the BBC World TV and Radio, pitching tips and more; with commentary and tips from editors, producers and reporters across the BBC.
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About Roxhill
Roxhill Media is the real-time media intelligence platform. Founded in 2015 by Alex Northcott, the founder of the original Gorkana database. Roxhill’s topic-led media database allows businesses and PRs to effectively target journalists and news outlets around the world.
What is BBC Music Introducing?
Since its launch in 2007, BBC Music Introducing has been dedicated to discovering and supporting new music.
What is BBC Music Introducing?
Find out how BBC Music Introducing discovers, supports and propels emerging UK artists.
In numbers
As of our 10th anniversary in 2017, artists supported by BBC Music Introducing artists have gone on, between them, to release:
14 UK No.1 singles
68 UK Top 10 singles
28 UK No.1 albums
54 UK Top 10 albums
How it works
It all starts with undiscovered artists registering with our uploader. They fill out a few bits of information like their artist name and postcode, and then they can upload their tracks. It’s as simple as that.
Those uploaded tracks get sent to the BBC’s local radio shows where they get listened to by our team of local presenters and producers. If they like them the tracks could get broadcast on those local stations and even propelled onto the national stage through BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 3, Asian Network and World Service.
BBC Music Introducing also provides up-and-coming artists with broadcast opportunities on television and online, as well as the chance to perform at major festivals and showcases.
FACT: 58% of the acts that performed at Reading + Leeds Festival in 2017 initially uploaded their music to the BBC Music Introducing Uploader.
Glastonbury and BBC TV: How it works
I have been covering Glastonbury Festival for BBC TV since 1997. Every year this week makes me feel like I am a nervous farmer just before harvest, scanning the skies anxiously. Of course the weather will be what the weather will be and it never seems to dampen that famous Glastonbury spirit that enables a city to spring up in a valley outside Glastonbury almost overnight and for those sudden citizens to behave with Caribbean charm and good manners while they are together in Avalon.
Although I have been covering Glastonbury for 15 years I have spent most of my time at the festival trudging between the trucks from which we broadcast that back onto the Pyramid Stage and across the stream to the BBC compound where our central presentation position and our catering tent resides. That’s a long and squelchy trudge when it’s muddy.
Our coverage has grown over the years and now spreads across BBC Two, Three and Four, red button and online at bbc.co.uk/glastonbury with the attendant catch-up services, not to mention the substantial coverage on BBC 6 Music with support from Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4.This year we are filming the Pyramid, Other, West Holts, John Peel and BBC Introducing stages and bringing some 15 different artists from the Dance Village to the Acoustic, Spirit of ’71 and Avalon Stages to the BBC TWO presentation area to perform for the channel. We have around 38 hours of broadcast across the terrestrial and digital channels, half-hour highlights from a wealth of sets will go up on BBC online and hopefully even more will rotate on red button.
Glastonbury is surely the richest and most eclectic three day live music event in Europe and probably the world and the BBC’s coverage across the weekend is undoubtedly the largest and most ambitious live music TV broadcast going. Being big means trying to create real appointment to view moments with the headliners who regard the last slot on the Pyramid Stage as a date with destiny. We broadcast these headline moments live to air these days and try and build up to them like a boxing match as BBC Two comes on air to catch the electricity of Bono and co, finally stepping off their own gargantuan tour to show they can still deliver as a four-piece, in a field with a festival crowd that isn’t the regular U2 punter they encounter at their own gigs. We work hard with each act to capture their performance distinctly as they adjust the stage and bring their screens, lasers and what have you to bear on their career-defining moment.
BBC Three tries to show the audience substantial amounts of the likes of Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Plan B and Mumford & Sons while BBC Four offers heritage performers including Morrissey, BB King and Kool and the Gang. Television hours means we can’t show all of each artist and many of the artists don’t always want us to show all of everything, as they or the BBC may be faced with technical problems, playing in a field in quick turnaround without much of a soundcheck.
Did I already say that?
Mark Cooper is the Creative Head, Music Entertainment