Renewable Energy Group

43% of all new electricity generating capacity built in the European Union last year was wind energy, exceeding all other technologies including gas, coal and nuclear power.

20 wind turbines were installed for every working day of 2008. By the end of the year, a total of 160,000 workers were employed directly and indirectly in the sector, which saw investments of about €11 billion in the EU

Wind energy is an example of an intelligent investment that puts EU citizens’ money to work in their own economies rather than transferring it to a handful of fuel-exporting nations

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

Having built a swimming pool for his children in his backyard, Matt Burdick of Chandler, Arizona planned to heat it in winter with solar hot water panels. It would be an environmentally responsible and economical way to heat a non-essential part of his home, he thought. But the $5,000 panels had not been in place on his roof for long before he received an official letter ordering their removal. Not from the State of Arizona, the local police department or the Chandler Planning Department, but from the Homeowners' Association of which he was a dues-paying member.

solar technologies suffer the limitation of most renewable technologies: an unpredictable operating profile due to weather variations.

it offers the capability to dispatch electricity as needed without requiring the use of natural gas

Subsidies are needed because solar is still more expensive than conventional power sources like coal, but costs are dropping by around 5 percent a year and "grid parity", without subsidies, is already a reality in parts of California. Very sunny countries could reach that breakeven in five years or so, and even cloudy Britain by 2020. "At that point you can expect pretty much unbounded growth," General Electric Co's Chief Engineer Jim Lyons told the Jefferies conference in London on Thursday, referring to price parity in sunny parts of the United States by around 2015.

As a result of these policies, we can expect a gradual decrease in oil consumption in the EU over the coming years, and the beginning of the switch to cleaner more efficient, and often renewable transport.

the era of cheap energy is over, and at a time when, in any event, we have an absolute obligation to future generations to move to clean, carbon free energy sources for heat, power and transport due to climate change. This is the challenge facing us.

draft directive guaranteeing 20% renewables

Along with wind power, concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) offers one of the most promising utility-scale, renewable energy technology options. CPV has a current system efficiency of 25% and the potential of reaching much higher efficiency. In the right locations, it could provide electricity at cost low enough to be competitive with fossil and nuclear power. Compared to other solar technologies, CPV has the advantage of modularity and very low water needs. This documentary goes across technology features of CPV. A visit to ISFOC (CPV Institute in Puertollano, South of Spain) serves as connecting thread. A second series will follow, focusing on interviews to industry representatives.

In October 2006, Google announced a commitment to solar energy production and launched the largest solar panel installation to date on a corporate campus in the United States. Google has installed over 90% of the 9,212 solar panels that comprise the 1,600 kilowatt project. Panels cover the rooftops of eight buildings and two newly constructed solar carports at the Googleplex (check out this fly-over video).

CSEM, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, has signed a contract with the government of the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to develop a prototype of a “Solar Island”. The aim of the project is to validate a concept for the large-scale transformation of solar energy into hydrogen and electricity at very low cost. It is funded by 5 mio US$ by the Gouvernment of Ras al Khaimah. The plan is to build large “Solar Islands” floating in the sea. These giant floating islands will be fitted with solar panels which will convert solar energy into electricity and/or hydrogen. A prototype of such a solar island, equipped with thermal solar panels, is to be built and tested in the desert of the United Arab Emirates.

The “25 by 25″ resolution is the result of a big lobbying campaign by a coalition consisting of more than 600 agricultural, energy, and environmental groups, business and labour interests and NGOs.

Yesterday, the European Parliament approved by overwhelming majority the "Thomsen Report" on the Roadmap for Renewable Energies in Europe. Crucial for the future of solar thermal: the call for the adoption in all Member States of renewable heat obligations, at least in new buildings and those undergoing major renovation.

In a speech this week, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke announced New Zealand's intention to commit to 90% renewable electricity by 2025, according to a press release issued by the New Zealand government. The country already uses 70% renewable electricity, primarily hydro- and geothermal power and will continue to increase its use of renewables over the next 20 years. 

Companies that have switched to renewable energy are reporting a number of bottom line advantages, including reduced corporate greenhouse gas emissions, diversification of energy sources to hedge against fluctuating fossil fuel prices, as well as strengthening customer relationships and brand differentiation.

China is proposing an international multilateral science and technology cooperation scheme to hasten development of clean renewable energies.

Renewable energy in the United States is on the rise. America now generates twice as much electricity from the wind and the sun as we did just four years ago, and 2007 promises to be another year of record growth.

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

a number of the renewable energy-rich areas are too far from the electric transmission grid to render them useful. "We've made tremendous progress developing the transmission plan to bring electricity from the wind-rich Tehachapi Mountain area to Southern California customers. Our goal with RETI is to identify the next Tehachapi." -- Dian M. Grueneich, Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission In an attempt to alleviate this dilemma, California has formed a public-private partnership called the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) to consider the feasibility of building new transmission lines to access renewable generation.

% à 11 % la part des biocarburants dans la consommation totale de carburants d'ici à 2050

frein aux subventions

KEMA, in partnership with the civil engineering firm Bureau Lievense and technology illustrators Rudolph and Robert Das, has developed an "Energy Island" concept to store power generated from an offshore wind farm. The concept design is the initial result of an on-going feasibility study being conducted for Dutch energy companies.