The increasing penetration of variable energy sources in some parts of the world is making it more difficult to match production with demand. So more robust energy storage options will have to be part of future energy systems. Bent Sørensen reports.
30 April, 2010
Government legislation and pressure on local authority waste management strategies have, in recent years, led to the explosive growth of the energy-from-waste industry. Simon Ellam from Siemens Industry Automation looks at some of the market drivers and standard issues facing plant controllers and operators.
28 April, 2010
The unpredictable price of oil is slowly changing industry and public sentiment in favour of bio-based energy. Especially in the USA. But before the biofuels market can fully commercialise, the public sector needs to clarify its goals. Jim Imbler, President and CEO of ZeaChem (a company active in the development of cellulosic ethanol), reports.
16 April, 2010
EU Member States are currently preparing National Action Plans to detail how they will meet their renewable energy targets.
13 April, 2010
Part 1: Cell manufacturers continue to drive down the cost of manufacturing and boost efficiency of their products. But it’s for nothing if installation costs and peripheral devices that harvest usable energy from the cells negate the manufacturing cost savings, and add to the price for the end user. Joyce Laird looks at what is being done on the user end to move PV closer to a universal reality – one that meets all demands at a reasonable cost.
12 April, 2010
The new medium-voltage directive of the German Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) demands that photovoltaic inverters no longer turn themselves off after a temporary blackout. Sputnik Engineering AG has adapted their SolarMax products accordingly.
12 April, 2010
Energy efficiency is not as easy to achieve as one would think. The 27 EU member states themselves are struggling to get targets and actions straight, but an EU project has been running to make sure these will ultimately be set in place.
10 April, 2010
As part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) in March, two of the panel debates discussed how to reach the EU’s 2020 renewable energy targets and how the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan will ensure successful implementation.
09 April, 2010
2010 was predicted by many to be the year that solar PV recovered some of the ground lost over the past 18 months after the industry’s well-documented problems. So how are things likely to play out?
08 April, 2010
The race to build a better solar cell is looping through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory where new robots are fabricating thin-film cells and analysing glitches faster and with more precision than ever before.
07 April, 2010