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The largest fully industrialized populus in the world could be entirely powered by a small fraction of solar desert energy, according to new plan The U.S. has some big plans for solar, both with building new power plants and through businesses and consumers adding solar panels to rooftops and unused land. However, no U.S. solar effort thus far compares to the ambitious plan that European Union (EU) officials are considering.

WIND POWER faces difficult obstacles, but its supporters can at least point to wind farms already in operation. By contrast, tidal power, often touted as an environmentally friendly alternative, has struggled. A firm quoted on London's Alternative Investment Market believes it is on to the next big thing in carbon-neutral energy - wave power.

Batteries have to contain all of the chemicals on both sides of their energy releasing equation. The very best batteries available today can store about 0.4 MJ/kg (0.05 kw-hr/lb) including the cases and safety systems. In contrast, gasoline carries about 46 MJ/kg (5.7 kw-hrs/lb).\n\nEven with a 20% efficient IC engine, a gasoline tank stores 20 times as much energy as a battery of equal weight. As the vehicle is moving it gets rid of some of that weight. Battery powered vehicles must carry the full weight of their energy source.\n\nThe energy density difference also plays a key role in the time that it takes to put more energy back on the vehicle once a fuel load is consumed. A two minute fill-up of a 12 gallon tank puts the equivalent of 87 kilowatt-hours into the vehicle, again, taking into account the 20% thermal efficiency.\n\n87 kilowatt-hours in 2 minutes works out to 2.6 MegaWatts. Even with a 220 volt connection, that would require about 11,800 amperes of current. Just imagine the size of the electric cables for that current.\n\nThere are certainly places and applications where electric vehicles have a role, but it is worth remembering that at least five or six generations of engineers have looked very hard at trying to meet transportation needs and they keep coming back to the same fact - when you want to move a vehicle, you need power, (energy per unit time).

After emerging in 2006 from 15 years of hibernation, the solar thermal power industry experienced a surge in 2007, with 100 megawatts of new capacity coming online worldwide. During the 1990s, cheap fossil fuels, combined with a loss of state and federal incentives, put a damper on solar thermal power development. However, recent increases in energy prices, escalating concerns about global climate change, and fresh economic incentives are renewing interest in this technology.

Green Ocean Energy Ltd. has developed a wave power machine that attaches to an offshore wind turbine. The company says the economics of both machines are enhanced as infrastructure such as the foundation and cabling will now be shared.

We've been hearing that renewable energy is a fast-growing sector, and now it's official: The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest report found that renewable energy made up the biggest share in the U.S.'s electricity capacity increase in 2007. The huge wind power industry, not surprisingly, accounts for most of this increase. According to the EIA's Electrical Power Annual report:

This story is now repeated annually. And of course it is correct in capacity terms, but fails to recognise the relatively modest energy contribution for all this capacity. If one were to make the comparison in terms of GWh instead of GW, the picture would be totally different. If this goes on for a while, baseload electricity users, today's utilities' best friends, may become a sheer nuisance in the future.

I thought it was about time I put out a wind power generators guide for those who want to know the top resources in this area.

The road to grid parity for PV power generation will be difficult, needing five or more years to compete with utility power, unsubsidized, on a large scale, noted Mark Thirsk, managing partner at Linx Consulting, at a recent SEMI PV forecast luncheon (Sept. 18) in Santa Clara, CA.

As you've probably already heard, Google is exploring the possibility of an offshore data facility , powered with Pelamis wave energy converter units.

According to a study from Clarion University, Pennsylvania, USA each step in the current US process of building and running a nuclear plant, from mining the uranium ores to disposing of the wastes, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the article states that for nuclear power to be a feasible alternative energy source the entire process would need to be more efficient. This study gives a view on nuclear power which includes long standing ideals. The paper seems to offer an intermediate review on issues around the subject of nuclear, in the wider energy debate.

I spend most of my day meeting and talking to companies in the cleantech sector. And those of you who know me know I have opinions on who is doing it right, and who is doing it wrong. So I thought it was about time to initiate the Cleantech Blog Power 10 Ranking of cleantech companies doing it right. Eligibility for inclusion in the ranking requires meeting a 6 point test.

The European Commission is currently in the process of dreaming up an offshore wind power action plan and it's put a shout out for anyone with an opinion to come forward.

India will subsidize the running of solar power plants to help develop a renewable energy infrastructure, where high costs can be prohibitive, the minister for renewable energy said on Wednesday. Renewable energy accounts for about 7.5 percent of India's installed generation capacity of 127,673 MW, a rate that compares favorably with much of the rest of the world. Much of this capacity is wind-based, and the share of solar power is small. "My ministry will provide financial assistance amounting to 12 rupees (30 cents) per kilowatt hour in case of solar photovoltaic and 10 rupees per kilowatt hour in case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid," Vilas Muttemwar said in a press conference.

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