Month in numbers

6

The number of roving safety reps due to start visiting smaller sites in the Midlands and the South-West in July.

They have been a long time coming. It was 2001 when the unions first tried to get pilots off the ground. The Construction Confederation was not initially supportive of the scheme, saying that site-based safety reps would be better placed to advise site management.

However a nine-month trial, backed by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and funded by the Health and Safety Commission went ahead and was hailed as a success.

Funding comes from the government's Challenge Fund which has been set up to improve worker safety. UCATT, with the National Federation of Builders, and TGWU with the FMB, both put in bids and secured £69,000 each.

41

The number of years that the world's oil reserves will last, according to BP's chief economist Peter Davies. 40.8% will come from the Middle East, 35.4% from Europe (including Russia), 7.8% from Africa, 7.7% from Asia Pacific, 4.2% from North America and 4.1% from Central and South America.

Attacks in Saudi Arabia caused oil prices to surge in June to $42.45 a barrel, triggering speculation of world recession. But after oil cartel Opec said that it would up production, prices dropped again.

Hauliers and plant operators are already facing increased costs in September when Chancellor Gordon Brown is due to increase the price of fuel by 1.9 pence per litre.

If the price of oil goes up, it not only effects fuel bills. Plastics which are derived from petroleum will also cost more to produce.

2,300

The number of new waste plants that we need to build by 2020 in order to avoid disappearing under a big heap of rubbish, according to the Institute of Civil Engineer's State of the Nation 2004 report. Building these plants could cost £30bn and take five years to design, build and commission.

But nothing is happening, due to a combination of dithering by government and 'Not in my back yard' action wherever waste facilities are planned.

"The government has been very slow," says Peter Braithwaite, an Arup director who heads up the firm's environmental consultancy. "Waste operators do not want to invest millions in a major new plant until they are sure the plant will get the OK from the government."

12m

The amount of Carbon, in tonnes, that must be saved through energy efficiency in businesses, households and the public sector if the government is to hit its target to cut CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050.

But one of the messages to emerge from renewable energy conference Resource '04 is that the government needs to take its own counsel. While its Sustainable Buildings Task Group is demanding 25% hikes in the energy efficiency performance of new homes, for example, it is doing little to tackle the huge inefficiencies in existing housing stock.

Philip Selwood,CEO of the Energy Saving Trust, urged the government to tax people into adopting energy-saving measures: "Fiscal incentives have a big part to play in persuading consumers to buy new technologies."

1.3bn

The value in pounds of a plan to regenerate a brownfield area around Wembley Stadium. Quintain Estates secured outline planning permission from Brent Borough Council in June, for phase one of what will be one of the biggest urban regeneration sites in Europe.

Quintain plans to build 3,727 apartments, student accommodation, a cinema, shops, bars and restaurants, offices and a hotel on the 58 acres of land it owns, creating 6,100 permanent jobs. The developer has detailed planning permission for its £25m refurbishment of Wembley pavilion, which will continue to host rock concerts.

Work on site, which will create up to 1,600 construction jobs, should begin later this year.