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The Guardian has an article on plans to expand micro-hydro generation in Britain - Canals and rivers to lead micro-hydropower revolution Britain's canals and rivers have already been heralded as a low-carbon way to tranport Tesco groceries, a test-bed for hydrogen boats and a opportunity to build more wind turbines. Now they're being billed as a chance for micro hydropower to flourish under new plans unveiled today by British Waterways, which maintains 2,200 miles of the country's canals and rivers. In partnership with The Small Hydro Company, British Waterways said it intended to build 25 small-scale hydro-electric schemes with a capacity of 40MW, enough to power 40,000 homes. While far smaller in capacity than offshore wind farms switched on in 2008, the hydro initiative hopes to raise £120m in private capital over the next three years, create 150 construction jobs and reduce CO2 emissions by 110,000 tonnes annually. Underwater turbines will be installed next to existing weirs and will not affect the navigation of canals and rivers. Larger waterways such as the Trent and Severn rivers will be used for the first hydro power projects, with many of the installations likely to be located in the East Midlands and Yorkshire. It is hoped the first of the 25 hydro installations will be generating renewable electricity by 2010.

Hydro-Electric Corporation (Hydro-Electric) is a government business entity owned by the State of Tasmania. It generates power using renewable energy. The company owns and operates dams, hydro power stations, and wind farms.

New York City, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Close to US $155 billion was invested in 2008 in renewable energy companies and projects worldwide, not including large hydro. Of this $13.5 billion of new private investment went into companies developing and scaling-up new technologies alongside $117 billion of investment in renewable energy projects from geothermal and wind to solar and biofuels. The 2008 investment is more than a four-fold increase since 2004 according to Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009, prepared for the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative by global information provider New Energy Finance. Of the $155 billion, $105 billion was spent directly developing 40 GW of power generating capacity from wind, solar, small-hydro, biomass and geothermal sources. A further $35 billion was spent on developing 25 GW of large hydropower, according to the report.

What better way to save the world than to start in your own back yard? That's what Doug Rempel is doing - one SIP at a time. Doug is currently building an entirely energy efficient home next to Lillooet Lake, in Pemberton, B.C. The home is "off the grid" which means everything, from the solar insulation panels (SIPS) to the architecture of the home - with window levels and patio ledges based on sun path charts - is created to heat and cool in the most natural way possible. There is no hydro power or natural gas. "Energy-efficiency is a career as well as a passion of mine," says Doug.

What does the future hold for the world's largest renewable energy source, hydropower? Hydropower is an incredibly old source of energy, tracing its usage back to the watermills that have been a staple of civilisations since ancient times. Today, it is the largest source of renewable energy in the world, with an installed capacity of over 1126GW in 2018. Hydropower is particularly prominent in China, where the world's largest power station Three Gorges power plant in Hubei province produces 22.5GW. Other massive projects also dot the country, including the Xilodu (12.3GW) and Longtan (6.3GW) dams.

In Latin America, the dynamic trend in energy consumption observed in 2010 (+5.1%) stopped in 2011 (+0.8%), following the sharp slowdown in Brazilian energy consumption (+1.4%, from +10% in 2010). Primary energy increased by 2% (+20 Mtoe, of which +16 Mtoe in Colombia, where crude oil production grew by 18%). In 2011, the energy intensity of the GDP dropped by 3.7% (30% below the world average).

Steinel German quality 230v 50Hz PIR occupancy sensor and presence detector for office cabins and rooms

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