This briefing describes recent developments in food regulation and examines options to improve food hygiene in businesses through monetary penalties, training and the use of local "Scores on the Doors" schemes.
In the past decade, the government has repeatedly emphasised the importance of taking an "evidence-based" approach to policy-making. In 2006, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee welcomed the government's progress in integrating scientific evidence into decision making. However, despite increasing use of evidence from the natural and social sciences, evidence from humanities disciplines such as history is not widely used. This POSTnote considers how history could help to inform decisions on key scientific and technological policy issues.
Around 15-20% of the UK's electricity could potentially be produced from marine renewable sources, but the technology is not mature. This POSTnote considers the technologies available and the environmental, economic and technological challenges involved in their deployment.
This POSTnote looks at recent UK e-democracy initiatives, and at challenges faced in their design and implementation. It examines debate over the purpose of eDemocracy and where its future lies.
This POSTnote outlines current and future applications of ITS in road transport, as well as technical, behavioural and economic limitations to their deployment.
Fundamental changes to the UK economy will be required to meet the greenhouse gas emission targets of the Climate Change Act (2008). This POSTnote examines UK emission trends since 1990 and considers how the UK might achieve a technological and behavioural transition to meet the targets.
The global greenhouse gas emissions from information and communication technology (ICT) are comparable with those of the aviation industry. This POSTnote focuses on the energy consumption of ICT equipment, and looks at action being taken to reduce it. It also mentions the wider environmental impact of ICT, and looks briefly at the significant contribution that ICT can make to reducing emissions in other sectors. These approaches are collectively referred to as 'green ICT'.
This POSTnote outlines some of the challenges in implementing River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) in the UK to meet Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives.
This POSTnote provides an assessment of nuclear power
generation technologies. It looks at the designs of any
new UK reactors and outlines details of the regulatory
design assessment process, with an emphasis on safety,
security and waste. It also looks at longer term
research into reactor design and waste management.
This POSTnote looks at UK options for meeting the proposed target of 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020,
and discusses how climate change could affect both the
UK capacity to produce renewable energy and demand
for energy in general.