"Do I hear 10 per cent? Yes, sir. What's that? Carburants will contain 10 per cent biofuel by 2020?  Oh, that's very good! Any advance on 10 per cent? Do I hear 20 per cent? Don't all bid at once. My! I see three hands. Yes, madam, you first. 20 per cent of all energy to be derived from renewable sources? I'm sorry? Excluding nuclear? I see. Mustn't make it too easy.

Demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply, pushing up prices and raising the specter that some states may not meet clean-energy mandates.

The project includes the first large-scale application of geothermal cold energy storage.

I was quite surprised this week when I attended a conference organised by the Greens in the European Parliament and saw them do the lobbying for a grand solar industrial project which I think still has a lot of uncertainties and even environmental dangers.

Or as Mr. Smith jokes: “It only took 40 years to become an overnight success.”

Now, oil production in northern Alberta is expected to quadruple to more than four million barrels a day by about 2020, if all the projects proposed go ahead.

The oil sands are seen as a crucial source in a world of increasingly tight supply, where many reserves are in politically volatile regions controlled by undemocratic states. Put another way: Should they disappear tomorrow, one industry expert estimates, the price of oil could jump a third to $130 a barrel.

GM's engineers have been flogging the mules -- known formally as "engineering development vehicles" -- pretty hard for a couple of months now and they've got the lithium-ion batteries and electric drivetrain pretty much sorted. Lutz finally got a chance to take one of the range-extended electric vehicles for a spin and notes on his blog, "While the car is still most definitely a work in progress, the thrill of driving electrically -- that instant, silent torque -- is certainly present and accounted for."

The use of a latent heat storage system using phase change materials (PCMs) is an effective way of storing thermal energy and has the advantages of high-energy storage density and the isothermal nature of the storage process. PCMs have been widely used in latent heat thermal-storage systems for heat pumps, solar engineering, and spacecraft thermal control applications. The uses of PCMs for heating and cooling applications for buildings have been investigated within the past decade. There are large numbers of PCMs that melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures, making them attractive in a number of applications. This paper also summarizes the investigation and analysis of the available thermal energy storage systems incorporating PCMs for use in different applications.

Die drei RWI-Ökonomen ziehen in einer mutigen, aber nicht unplausiblen Rechnung den Schluss, dass 2006 jeder der - nach Verbandsangaben - 35 000 in der deutschen Photovoltaik Beschäftigten mit 205 000 Euro subventioniert wird.

According to David Victor, a leading carbon trading analyst at Stanford University, as many as two-thirds of the supposed "emission reduction" credits being produced by the CDM from projects in developing countries are not backed by real reductions in pollution. Those pollution cuts that have been generated by the CDM, have often been achieved at a stunningly high cost: billions of dollars (or pounds) could have been saved by cutting the emissions through international funds, rather than through the CDM's supposedly efficient market mechanism.

Question: I travel quite a lot, and have seen extensive use of geothermal energy in Iceland and some Eastern European countries for district heating. But, I don't get a sense there is much geothermal use for heating in the United States. Is this the case? If it is, why don't we use more geothermal energy for heating homes and buildings? -- Bill T., Santa Fe, New Mexico

The simultaneous onset of climate change and the peaking of global oil supply represent unprecedented challenges for human civilisation. Global oil peak has the potential to shake if not destroy the foundations of global industrial economy and culture. Climate change has the potential to rearrange the biosphere more radically than the last ice age. Each limits the effective options for responses to the other. The strategies for mitigating the adverse effects and/or adapting to the consequences of Climate Change have mostly been considered and discussed in isolation from those relevant to Peak Oil. While awareness of Peak Oil, or at least energy crisis, is increasing, understanding of how these two problems might interact to generate quite different futures, is still at an early state.

This article from The Telegraph is a wonderful example of pundit cluelessness and or wanton incompetence, and I'm going to rip it to shreds in detail below.

Éléments pour un débat sur les énergies renouvelables en France

The Government this week unveiled a plan to supply power to more than 261 health centres. The Euro 36.5m (about Frw27.4b) project was presented before development partners this week. Most of the targeted health centres are based in rural areas.

This blog describes the building of an off grid passive solar monolithic dome. After the building of the dome is finished, I will write about living off the grid, wind and solar power, energy efficiency, sustainable living and growing organic food. Start at the bottom for the chronological story.

Ofgem consultation (12 pages, PDF) on a proposed process for examining any request by GB electricity distribution network operators for adjustment to the price controls set in 2004 in respect of deviations from expected costs attributable to specified legislative changes. Responses by Friday 13 June 2008.