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Displays that use organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are more vivid than liquid-crystal displays, have much faster refresh rates, and draw less power, but so far, manufacturing difficulties have limited them to small sizes fit only for handheld devices. On December 1, and only in Japan, Sony released the world's first OLED television, featuring an 11-inch panel with a layer of light-emitting organic material just several hundred nanometers thick. Initially, Sony plans to manufacture 2,000 of the TVs per month.

Thousands of new offshore wind turbines could power every home in Britain by 2020, the government announced today, as it set out new wind-energy plans. John Hutton, the business secretary, proposed the creation of up to 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy. He called for companies to invest in large-scale farm development to generate enough power for up to 25m homes in the next 12 years. That would require around 7,000 turbines, or one every half-mile. He admitted that "tough choices" would have to be made if the UK wanted to respond to climate change and become more self-sufficient.

If Europe wants to meet its 20% binding target for renewable energy by 2020, it must increase its use of offshore wind, delegates heard today at the opening of the Offshore Wind Conference in Berlin, Germany. Two concrete steps towards large scale deployment of offshore wind were taken this morning: the European Commission announced an offshore action plan for 2008, and regional cooperation was promoted through the signing of a trilateral offshore research agreement by Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

Another example of pass-through pricing. At least it happens where I take my fuel.

The problem is at least recognised, instead of declaring it a myth. But the video remains a concept. The numbers are not worked out, nor the economics. And while variability can be reduced by combining different renewables, nobody knows whether we will get it right 95, 99 or the current 99.9% of the time. 30 minutes of outage per year does not leave much margin for error.

The U.K. Business Secretary John Hutton, who earlier this month pledged to support new nuclear plants, said the government will consider whether to back a tidal power project with an output equivalent to five reactors. The government will study proposals including a dam between England and Wales that would produce 8,640 megawatts of power by 2020, enough to meet 5 percent of U.K. demand, the minister said today in a statement. It will also assess plans by Tidal Electric Ltd. to build a walled pool to produce 60 megawatts.

Ah Severn and Cape Cod - just build the bloody things, or be silent forever.

A vision from the past.

The EU yesterday denounced a House of Commons report calling for a moratorium on the increased use of biofuels and made plain it would stick to mandatory targets for the use of biofuels in transport when it unveils a climate change package today. Yesterday's report from the Commons environmental audit committee warned that biofuels were too expensive, environmentally damaging and making a negative contribution to cutting greenhouse gases, and said British government and EU plans to force greater use of biofuels should be rethought. In an unusually strong criticism of the Commons committee, Andris Piebalgs, the EU commissioner for energy, insisted that biofuels had to be supported as the "most immediately feasible way" of reversing greenhouse gas discharges from cars. "The [European] Commission strongly disagrees with the conclusion of the British House of Commons report," said Piebalgs.