The Chinese government has warned of the difficulty of curbing growing greenhouse gas emissions in the foreseeable future. Beijing has said it wants to combat climate change yet ensure China’s economic take-off is unimpeded, and a recent government white paper on climate change reflects the uneasy fit between those imperatives. {pagebreak} China faces shrinking crops,… Read more »
Power and Energy Solutions (PES) magazine has been named as an official partner for the European Wind Energy Conference in Marseille, France, next year. The event, which will be held in March, is the biggest gathering of wind energy experts and commentators from Europe and beyond and it provides an opportunity to discover the latest… Read more »
Nine UK manufacturers are ready to blow away the competition to gain new business in wind energy and other fast growing renewable energy sectors. As part of an Envirolink business improvement project funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and central government, the companies have energised their own people and performance to compete more effectively… Read more »
Power conversion specialists Converteam have taken top honours at an awards ceremony which recognised their work in the wind turbine field. The UK-based company, which makes a leading range of drives, including the MV3000, widely used in the most advanced wind turbines, came first in the World Class Manufacturing category at the Manufacturer 2008 Live… Read more »
German company DEGERenergie has just opened its third solar park on a former landfill site. The new park, in Rexingen, Kreis Freudenstadt, joins established parks in Heiligenfeld and Oberiflingen. Enough power will be generated to cover the energy needs of the entire town. {pagebreak} In total 190 kWp are installed on 1.5 hectares. Fifty four… Read more »
No strangers to lucrative means of producing energy, the money men of the Middle East are now looking towards the renewables sector for cleaner ways of making a profit. A company based in Abu Dhabi has bought a 20 per cent stake in London Array offshore wind farm, which is set to be one of… Read more »
Industrial giant Siemens Energy is to supply a steam turbine for one of the world’s first commercial solar tower power plants. The Spanish company Sener will build the innovative solar thermal power plant with a capacity of 19 megawatts (MW) at a site near Seville in Andalusia. {pagebreak} For the “Solar Tres” project Siemens will… Read more »
Insurance premiums for renewable energy projects look set to rise by up to 10 per cent over the next two years, as a direct result of the current economic crisis. Specialist renewable energy insurer GCube has announced that it has secured an increased underwriting capacity to cover business up to a value of $800 million… Read more »
No less a personage than the Queen of England has stepped into the renewables debate by promising to invest in wind power projects in the deep waters off Britain. The Crown Estate, which is the holder of the Queen’s property, says it will pay up to half of all pre-construction development costs for companies wanting… Read more »
High efficiency PV panels are to be installed on the roof of a Californian warehouse to create one of the world’s largest solar projects at a winery. The 1.2 megawatt solar system installation at Constellation Wines US’ Gonzales Winery in Monterey County, will cover approximately 170,000 square feet of the main winery warehouse roof, and… Read more »
A commitment to Britain’s climate change agenda has been made despite fears of a severe downturn in the world economy. The UK’s new energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, said many of the new jobs of the future will be green jobs, {pagebreak} adding that the cost to taxpayers of failing to fix the… Read more »
Harnessing Ireland’s offshore wind and wave energy is vital to help the country to slash its carbon emissions by 2020, a new parliamentary committee has said. The Dail’s Committee on Climate Change, which was established a year ago, {pagebreak} said Irish people now produce the fifth highest levels of greenhouse gas in the world in… Read more »
EPIA organises its first international Thin Film Conference More than 300 experts from the thin film sector are expected to gather in Munich on November 13 for the first European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) International Thin Film Conference. {pagebreak} With a growing demand for PV products in the European and American markets, all technological solutions… Read more »
Excessive bureaucracy and long waits to connect plants to the grid is slowing down the potential for enormous growth in Italy’s solar energy market. Although the country is a solar power hot spot, with 17,000 plants tapping its plentiful sunlight, approval for such plants can drag very slowly, taking months of painstaking decision-making. {pagebreak} “The… Read more »
A warning not to undermine EU support for renewables has been sounded by a wind energy trade body in a letter to a French minister. The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has expressed its concern about a proposed ‘review clause’ {pagebreak} in the Renewable Energy Directive, and underlined the importance of priority grid access for… Read more »
Euro MPs have dealt a blow to plans for a new generation of coal-fired power stations after voting for tough curbs to reduce their emissions. The MEPs want to force energy companies to fit expensive equipment to trap the emissions, the limit of which is the same as that set by California – 500 grams… Read more »
Fears that wildlife, particularly birds, is affected by wind farms have been allayed in a new study which shows that turbines have little impact on them. “This should be welcome news for nature conservationists, wind energy companies and policy-makers”, {pagebreak} the report from the UK’s Newcastle University said, adding that carbon-free wind power is also… Read more »
An end to the use of fossil fuels needs to happen in the UK within 20 years, the government’s climate change watchdog has warned. The independent Climate Change Committee also says the government should set a 2050 target of cutting all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent – including those from aviation… Read more »
Almost all businesses in the UK are unaware of an incentive scheme to help improve energy efficiency, according to new industry research. The survey involving 1,300 businesses across offices, retail and leisure, conducted by Daikin UK, revealed that 92 per cent companies are currently unaware of the Government’s Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme set up… Read more »
A senior Chinese climate change advisor has broken ranks to criticise his country’s stance on global warming as its economy develops. Hu Angang, a public policy professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, has urged China to act on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, even as the government says it should not assume international obligations to curb… Read more »
A government survey of energy trends in the UK has revealed that Scotland generates twice as much wind energy as England. The quarterly survey, published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform throws up a number of interesting statistics in relation to renewables in the UK. {pagebreak} And while Scotland has greater renewables… Read more »
Shares in a Scottish wind farm have exceeded market expectations, raising more than £1.25 million of investment. The Great Glen Wind Farm Co-op share offer closed recently, and delighted investors by surpassing its target by more than five times. The scheme is being run by Energy4All, a not-for-profit company set up to spearhead community-owned renewable… Read more »
Search engine leader Google has outlined a plan for the United States to cut its reliance on fossil fuels by 2030. The California-based company has called for a big push in wind, solar and geothermal power to largely replace fossil fuels. Hybrid and electric cars would also get a major boost. {pagebreak} Eric Schmidt, Google’s… Read more »
The World Bank Group’s funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes has increased by a massive 87% in the last year, it has recently been revealed. A statement by the Bank said $2.7b was used to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency commitments for the year ending 30 June 2008. {pagebreak} The funding includes… Read more »
Senior bankers have warned the renewable energy sector of a €21 billion shortfall in debt finance by 2020 following the credit crisis and a brake on lending. European wind and solar power projects drew 18 billion euros investment in 2007 and needed about 85 billion euros annually by 2020 to meet EU targets, said Tanja… Read more »
Only central government commitment to renewable energy adoption will prevent a UK-wide energy crisis, a top managements consultant has said. David Hughes, utilities practice director at ABeam Consulting, said the skyrocketing price of oil means it is ‘not feasible’ to rely on fossil fuels in the long term. {pagebreak} “Global warming makes matters worse, pushing… Read more »
Photovoltaic energy could provide 12% of European electricity demand by 2020, a conference has heard. More than 4,000 scientists and 750 companies gathered in Valencia recently to present significant innovations in the field of solar photovoltaic energy to EPIA, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. {pagebreak} The industry unanimously agreed that the evolution of solar photovoltaic… Read more »
Despite calls for more investment in renewables and clean energy, UK business minister John Hutton has pledged ‘maximum support’ for new nuclear power stations in the UK. At the first meeting of the Government’s new Nuclear Development Forum Mr Hutton said that energy from new nuclear generators is indispensable for keeping the UK’s lights on,… Read more »
The European wind power industry could replace the automotive sector as the biggest user of steel by 2020, a Green MEP has claimed. Luxemburg MEP Claude Turmes, who helped a report calling for massive investment in renewables reach almost unanimous backing by the industry committee of the European Parliament, said the legislation would lead to… Read more »
Finland is the latest country to approve the development for wind farm parks in key catchment areas close to coastlines and the sea. The Finnish Government has agreed to build a number of wind power plants over the next ten years with the aim of generating about 2000 megawatts of wind power by 2020. In… Read more »
A plan by the British government to buy its way out of half its CO2 reduction targets weakens efforts to reverse climate change, a top scientist has claimed. Dr Keith Allott, head of the WWF-UK’s climate change programme, said a leaked report which suggested EU nations should be allowed to trade away 50 per cent… Read more »
A plan to create a government office to give a leg-up to the UK’s renewables industry has been welcomed by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). Secretary of State John Hutton has announced a proposed Office for Renewable Energy Deployment. The office, which should be up and running in the spring of 2009, pending the… Read more »
The EU has chosen a more efficient, sustainable and affordable future through its policies to use renewable energy and fight climate change, says a new report. The International Energy Agency says the EU is a world leader in beginning to mitigate the effects of global warming through ambitious proposals on climate change and energy policies…. Read more »
A slice of California’s rich cinematic history will soon be undergoing the solar treatment, the first cinema of its kind in the United States to do so. The Fairfax 5 Theatres complex in the town of Fairfax will install a PV system, resulting in savings of more than $600,000 over its 30-year life span. The… Read more »
Renewable energy consumers in Germany are celebrating after the government said it would scale back the feed-in tariff by only 9-10 per cent each year until 2011. The news is a huge boost for renewables in Germany, as it was expected that a 30 per cent scale back would be implemented. {pagebreak} In 1999, the… Read more »
The need to recruit people with the right skills is causing worries in the renewables sector as demand for good employees far outstrips supply. With the cost of energy rising rapidly, the need for alternative supplies and people with relevant skills to produce it is producing challenges says Stuart Brown, Practice Head of Energy and… Read more »