There is significant potential to improve the energy efficiency of commercial refrigerators, boilers and water heaters, according to the latest three studies carried out under the EU's energy-using products (EuP) directive.

Two of these – on imaging equipment and electric motors – are expected this month.

philosophy professor Alessandro Volta piled alternating discs of zinc and sliver or copper on top of one another

Smart plugs would be fitted to all appliances in the home and communicate via radio waves back to a central control panel to calculate how much energy each device is using and when equipment is operating needlessly. For example, if your phone is fully charged it will turn off further supply of energy to the phone.

The plug will even have an “integrated motion sensor” to detect minimal activity in a room to shut down devices left on. If something has been shut off that shouldn’t be, a simple flick of a switch to turn it back on again will tell the central controller that you don’t like that particular service being compromised.

Moreover, raising energy productivity will not require "enormous costs" as "we already have in our hands the potential to abate accelerating energy demand in a practical, cost-effective way," the report finds.

green light for new nuclear build in the UK

Each of the reactors at Oldbury for example generate 815MW of thermal output, of which only some 218MW emerges as electricity indicating a thermal efficiency of 27%. This is an important point to be aware of when making primary energy comparisons.

The Belgian site under study in this paper is connected to the public transmission grid (380 kV) by a High Voltage (HV) station

A Commission proposal aimed at toughening up emissions legislation for industrial installations has come under fire from business leaders, who say it could force power stations and other plants to shut down.

GREENIOLOGY: How to Live Well, Be Green and Make a Difference Tanya Ha offers eight resolutions for a greener New Year.

EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs is expected to unveil the legislative piece on 12 January, with some governments scheduled to lobby for the best possible deal even as early as the beginning of next month.

xamines some of the main policy options and instruments available for mounting a global response to problems such as rising sea levels, biodiversity loss and failing crops. 

The world needs to build 30 nuclear power stations and the equivalent of two Three Gorges dams every year to prevent dangerous climate change, the International Energy Agency has said. It also needs to build 13,000 wind turbines and 40 coal and gas power stations fitted with carbon capture and storage technology each year between 2013 and 2030, the head of the Agency told the climate change conference in Bali.

Carbonrally lists many competitions like bringing in your grocery bags or adding air to your vehicle’s tires to reduce CO2 emissions of 6 pounds and 29 pounds in one month, respectively.

While the draft directive , made available by Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), does not specify the precise percentage figures by which each member state will be required to increase its share of renewable energies, the following criteria are put forward: By 2014, each member state's share of renewables must be at least the amount it used in 2005 plus 51% of the 2020 target;  by 2016, the figure must increase to 66% of the 2020 target; and; by 2018, member states should have achieved 83% of their 2020 target (compared to the 2005 level as usual).

An early draft of an upcoming Commission proposal to increase the use of renewables in final EU energy consumption includes guidelines for establishing individual national targets, provisions for mandatory use of certificates for renewables trading and sustainability criteria for biofuels production.

20% of their energy needs from renewables

The Commission has decided today to give a favourable opinion to the initiative of Natsionalna Elektricheska Kompania (NEK) of Bulgaria to build a new nuclear power plant at the site of Belene

The production of wind power varies and is harder to forecast than the fluctuations in electricity demand.

The results indicate that the frequently stated claim of wind power requiring an equal amount of reserve power for back-up is not correct. A substantial adjustment tolerance is already built in to our power network, and the impacts of wind power fluctuations can be further balanced through a variety of measures.

Most importantly, if we choose solar we don’t have to wait for a new technology to save us. We already have the technology and energy resources we need to build a sustainable, solar-electric economy that can cure our addiction to oil, stabilize the climate and maintain our standard of living, all at the same time.

The Skyonic SkyMine™ process mineraizes CO2 as sodium carbonate (baking soda) for long-term storage as land or mine fill. It is a post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration technology that works with any large-scale stationary CO2 emitter

They have successfully created a solar coating that is the most cost-efficient solar energy source ever. Their PowerSheet cells contrast the current solar technology systems by reducing the cost of production from $3 a watt to a mere 30 cents per watt. This makes, for the first time in history, solar power cheaper than burning coal.

Actually, I should run the old one, at least fo another 250,000 kilometres. Why? Because over that period it will pollute as much as the new car when it’s being manufactured.

Each time the electric eel at the Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium touches a copper wire in its tank, it sends power that lights up globes decking a Christmas tree.