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The British government plans to build a wave farm off the Cornish coast that could supply electricity for 7,500 homes.

One can see where the Minister is coming from. Current electricity prices are too low to fund new investment necessary to restore supply security. Average generation prices of around 12 c/kWh are less than half the cost of new coal-fired generation plant. The recently installed turbines, which are keeping the lights on over the Cape winter, produce power at a cost much higher than even the highest industrial tariff.

Surf this: The potential market for wave energy -- electricity generated by offshore turbines -- is worth a staggering $1 trillion worldwide, according to the World Energy Council, a nonprofit research organization. In the United States alone, wave technology could supply 6.5 percent of the nation's energy. No wonder, then, that startups are rushing to stake claims before someone else drops in on the best waves.

China was late to join the race to develop novel rare earth materials, elements that are essential constituents of everything from iPods to Patriot missiles. But Western observers agree that China is catching up fast in areas such as fuel cells and magnetic refrigeration. Today, about three-quarters of the world's neodymium magnets are made in China. Domestic industrial demand is rising: Last year, China consumed 60% of all processed rare earths. That unnerves some industry analysts and U.S. legislators, who have expressed concern about China's dominance of the rare earth supply. Last year, China satisfied 95% of global demand—now about 125,000 tons per year—and holds more than half of all proven reserves. In 2005, prices started creeping up when China began to limit production and slap export tariffs on some rare earths. In a policy paper last month, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology floated the idea of prohibiting export of three scarcer rare earths: europium, terbium, and dysprosium. If the Chinese government were to implement such a policy, it would be a big problem for other countries.

In this work, some fundamental aspects concerning the efficiency of induction machines are treated. The standards and the therein prescribed methods for the determination of the energy efficiency of induction machines are discussed. A detailed comparison of the four most relevant and recent methods identifies the differences. By means of measurement results of different machines, the differences between and the shortcomings of certain methods is confirmed. In that context, special attention is paid to the new, so-called ‘Eh-Y’ method. A concise overview of the most important points of attention for an increased efficiency of motor drives en the role of the induction motor (efficiency) in this context is completed with some examples. The difference between motor and generator mode is discussed and explained based on measurement results of machines of different size and efficiency class. Special attention is paid to the behaviour and performance of induction machines supplied by unbalanced voltages. More specifically it is investigated if and how the susceptibility to voltage asymmetry is influenced by material choice, in which the main focus lies on copper rotor technology. Therefore, the different standards for the description and quantification of voltage unbalance are studied first. The theoretical discussion is backed-up with experimental results of several machines.

BUILD UP is a new environment for building professionals, local authorities and building occupants willing to share their experience on how to cut energy consumption in buildings. Diversity is a major strength of the EU and BUILD UP will promote the exchange of all the best practices, tools and technologies available across Europe for an effective implementation of energy-saving measures in buildings. When it comes to climate change and security of energy supply, there is no easy fix. It is only by working together that we will achieve a real impact.