Biofuel technology developer New Generation Biofuels Holdings, Inc., has secured a contract with the City of Baltimore to evaluate its biofuel for use in institutional boilers over a one year period. The maximum volume for the program is capped at 440,000 gallons, said the company based in Columbia, Maryland.

Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group announced that there will be additional 2 billion KWh to be supplied to national grid by Son La hydropower plant and Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant. On January 7, 2011, EVN will officially put into operation the first turbine of Son La hydropower plant after over five years of construction. At the same time, the group will also have the first turbine of Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant joined the national grid.

The Indian government recently provided subsidies worth $10 million for projects aimed at promoting the use of solar energy in rural areas. The subsidies went to projects which distributed solar lanterns and installed solar home-lighting systems in villages across the country.

Bulgaria will export an estimated 7500GWh of electricity in 2010, more than double its 2009 figure of 3700GWh, announced the National Electric Company (NEK). This represents 21.6% of total power generated in the country. Exports have increased significantly as domestic consumption was reduced by the recession. “We reached an all-time exports record this year,” Parvanov said. “Mainly because we improved the management of the tenders and our product.”

According to a recently released report, Scotland is on track to meet its ambitious renewable energy goal of generating 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. In the report, Energy Trends, it was revealed that 27 percent of the electricity in 2009 was generated using renewable energy sources.

Some 500 of 900 German power firms will increase prices as of Jan. 1, consumer portal Verivox said, detailing recent announcements in the retail energy market for the 40 million households it monitors. The average increase will be 7 percent and a typical household, consuming 4,000 kilowatt hours a year, will have to pay 66 euros ($87) more for annual supply, said the portal, which monitors prices and encourages switching.

Egypt announced that it will have a fully operational nuclear power plant by the end of the decade. The country’s ministry of electricity said that they plan to be ready to go on nuclear power to support Egypt’s power needs by 2019.

China's measures to develop wind energy will help to save energy, reduce emissions and protect the environment and are in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday in response to a US complaint against China's subsidy for the wind-power sector.

Sweden and Norway have agreed the bases for a common green certificate market, energy ministers for both nations said on Wednesday. A green certificate is a tradable commodity proving that a certain electricity has been produced using a renewable source of energy, such as wind, solar or hydropower. Environmental groups hope they can boost the use of renewables.

The extended tax credits will prove a great present for thousands of workers in the renewable energy industry. President Obama signed legislation on Friday extending key tax credits supporting renewable energy projects and biofuel use.

The two countries' interest in cooperation is quite natural. The Czech Republic is preparing a lucrative tender for the completion of the nuclear power plant Temelin, near the Austrian border, in which the US firm Westinghouse has expressed interest. Westinghouse has a Japanese owner but its seat and operations are in the USA. The project is worth several hundred billion crowns. Besides Westinghouse, the other bidders are Czech-Russian consortium of Skoda JS Atomstroyexport and France's Areva.

Korea is set to build 14 nuclear power plants by the year 2024 in an attempt to lessen its reliance on petroleum for electricity. At a public hearing in Seoul on Tuesday the Korean government announced a long-term plan for energy which calls for an increase in the portion generated through nuclear plants and renewable sources.

Drying biosolids to approximately 75 percent solids, beyond the 15 to 20 percent solids typical at wastewater treatment plants, was recognized as the best way to create a workable, pathogen-free biosolid that could be used as cover at the Toland Road Landfill in Santa Paula, with potential future use as fertilizer or fuel. A biosolids drying system was developed to meet the long-term disposal needs of Ventura County in an economical, environmentally responsible manner.

A sprawling international collaboration between scientists at government and university laboratories has resulted in a breakthrough discovery that could lead to more efficient ways of generating electricity from waste heat. The phenomenon, called the thermoelectric effect, can be applied to car exhaust, factory emissions, and other operations to capture the large amount of human-manufactured energy that is currently lost to the atmosphere.

A statement from the department on Saturday said that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano was in the country from Dec. 8 to Dec. 11, where he met senior officials from Philippine government agencies involved in the implementation of technical cooperation projects in various nuclear applications.

Innovative green transport systems such as electric tricycles, hybrid jeepneys and electric bicycles have the potential to lessen pollution caused by conventional transportation and the dependency on fossil fuels, according to Senator Edgardo J. Angara.

According to Director of Institute of Atomic Energy, Mr. Vuong Huu Tan, currently, the location of the center is located in the research and proposal. All the work is at the starting point. For the 3 locations of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Lat, in most meetings and conferences, scientists proposed to build the center near Hanoi. According to scientists, this location will satify all conditions, especially to take full advantage of human resources available in Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute.

Unit 1 with the capacity of 400MW of Son La Hydropower Plant has been successfully connected to the National Electricity System at 12h45’on December 17th, 2010. Son La hydropower plant, with the installed capacity of 2400 MW, including six units, each unit with the capacity of 400MW, is the second ladder on Da River, after Lai Chau hydropower plant started on December 22th and above Hoa Binh hydropower plant.

On December 15th, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) held a ceremony reviewing the energy efficiency program in the 2006-2010 period and the implementation of Directive No. 19/2005/CT-TTg on energy conservation in production and consumption . After 5 years of nationwide deployment, with the coordination between the MOIT and the People's Committees of provinces and cities under the Central Government, the program has obtained encouraging achievements.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, December 6, 2010 that a “framework agreement” has been signed between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The agreement will allow French state-owned Areva, to sell nuclear reactors to India’s Maharashtra state complete with nuclear fuel for 25 years.