Germany wants to do for geothermal energy what it has done for wind, solar photovoltaics (PV), and biogas by raising its payment for geothermally-generated electricity in 2012.
29 June, 2011
Reliable data on technical systems, supply of raw materials and profitability are critical when securing finance for the development of biogas plants
28 June, 2011
New marine renewable spin outs in the UK continue to appear despite tough challenges
28 June, 2011
Bioenergy has the potential to provide renewable heat, electricity and transport fuel the world over, but controversy has dogged the technology's development, especially in recent times. So what is the industry doing to redress this?
27 June, 2011
A company in Iceland is turning CO2 into methanol to power cars
27 June, 2011
The first solar electric power plants are still proving their worth after three decades, so why aren't we seeing more CSP reach the development stage?
24 June, 2011
There is a fascinating array of PV research taking place in labs worldwide. But which of these will ultimately make it to market is the unknown question
24 June, 2011
Countries worldwide are increasingly turning to feed-in tariffs as a mechanism to develop geothermal energy.
23 June, 2011
The argument about who wins – solar PV, CSP, or CPV – is currently all the rage. But is this just an unnecessary distraction?
23 June, 2011
The solid block of support for nuclear power among French elites is showing signs of strain. In an unusual development, Parisian newspaper Liberation published two side-by-side articles about French political figures on the right who question nuclear power in the wake of the Italian referendum on new nuclear plants.
22 June, 2011
Securing the green light for a wind farm is one of the biggest challenges any developer will face. So how can developers give themselves the best chance?
21 June, 2011
Despite tricky times of late, innovations in aerodynamics, drive train and intelligent operation – should help drive the cost of wind energy back down again.
20 June, 2011
With the backdrop of the COP15 failure in Copenhagen, expectations going into the recent UNFCCC COP16 talks in Cancún, Mexico, were extremely low, with few believing there would be a significant outcome. And after the chaotic failure in Copenhagen the year before, many observers had already pronounced the multilateral approach to combating climate change ‘dead’, and did not think it could be revived.
17 June, 2011
California reached a landmark achievement last year by hitting a keystone renewable energy target just before Christmas, raising hopes of a prosperous new year for investors, project developers and manufacturers.
16 June, 2011
Energy storage has become a hot topic in the energy sector recently, as a catalyst to bringing more renewable energy on stream. Could compressed air be one viable option?
15 June, 2011
Statkraft shows off the power of Osmosis, as it doubles the efficiency of its prototype plant in the Norwegian Fjords. Could the technology, that creates energy by mixing together fresh water and dense salt water, be edging closer to a state of commercial viability?
14 June, 2011
When US President Obama gave his recent State of the Union Speech, he demonstrated (all be it rhetorically at this stage) that he understands the need for innovation in clean energy.
13 June, 2011
Setting up operations in a new country is always a risk, especially in the emerging markets. Mexico, in Latin America, is one such market, but an increasing number of companies are now active there – including EDF Energy and Clipper Windpower.
10 June, 2011
As the UK's Round 3 projects gain momentum and move wind turbines further offshore, developers need to improve how they will connect their wind farms to the grid. So where will all the cable come from?
09 June, 2011
As pressure builds on Australia’s Federal coalition Government to get its climate change policy into shape once and for all. Gail Rajgor reports on the state of the country’s renewable energy market.
08 June, 2011
SunPower Corporation is one of the top, publicly-traded US solar companies operating today. In 2009 it reported revenues of US$1.5 billion (against costs of US$1.2bn), up from US$1.4bn in 2008. In spite of what CEO Tom Werner called “an especially difficult year for the commercial rooftop segment – due to the credit crisis, which severely limited solar project financing”. At SPI2010, Lyn Corum caught up with Howard Wenger, President of the company’s utility and power plants division.
07 June, 2011
With it the end of an extraordinary decade for solar photovoltaics (PV), reports Navigant’s Paula Mints, who concentrates on the marketplace in this solar PV roundup article.
06 June, 2011
In the wind power industry, reaching higher isn’t just a nice metaphor for achievement. It’s the industry’s future. The reach for steady, reliable, low-shear wind at hub heights of 80 m and above is the reach for success in the marketplace. Without that steadiness and reliability, wind power struggles to compete with more dependable – if mortally flawed – fossil fuels. Susan Giordano at Second Wind explains the importance of accurate wind measurements.
03 June, 2011
Joyce Laird catches up with some companies we featured exactly a year ago to find out whether 2010 fell short, met, or exceeded 2009 projections on the solar photovoltaic (PV) technology front.
02 June, 2011
June 2011: Our new column, written by the Energy Industries Council (EIC), reports on the latest renewable energy projects and key project developments – from Brazil to Zambia.
01 June, 2011