Asia leads the growth in global wind power, which grew 35.8 GW in 2010 bringing total global capacity to 194.4 GW – up 22.5% from 2009, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) says. Wind power installations in 2010 represented investments worth €47.3 billion, but the global wind power market was nonetheless down for the first time in 20 years. New installations fell 7% compared to 2009, mainly due to a disappointing year in the US, as well as a slowdown in Europe.

France’s solar-panel imports surged last year as developers relied mostly on foreign manufacturers to supply a boom in renewable-energy projects, Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said. French customs figures show the deficit in favor of solar panel imports widened to 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in 2010 compared with 800 million euros the previous year, she said at a conference in Paris.

The European Summit dedicated to energy and innovation has emphasised the importance of energy savings for the climate, as well as for competitiveness, jobs and energy security. The cross-sectoral Coalition for Energy Savings welcomes European leaders’ focus on energy efficiency, but warns that there is not enough being done to get us on track to meet the 20% energy efficiency target by 2020.

Award winning Israeli company Solaris Synergy has designed solar energy grids that can float on water, reducing energy production costs, and preventing water loss. Generating energy from the sun would be more practical if not for two huge drawbacks: The expense of the silicon material that converts light to electricity, and the large tracts of land needed for solar farms.

Hội nghị thượng đỉnh EU với nội dung về năng lượng và đổi mới đã nhấn mạng tầm quan trọng của tiết kiệm năng lượng trong việc ngăn chặn biến đối khí hậu cũng như để tăng khả năng cạnh tranh, tạo công ăn việc làm và đảm bảo an ninh năng lượng. Tổ chức hợp tác liên ngành về Tiết kiệm năng lượng (Coal ition for Energy Savings) hoan nghênh việc các nhà lãnh đạo EU tập trung vào vấn đề sử dụng năng lượng hiệu quả, tuy nhiên cũng cảnh báo rằng những gì đã làm là chưa đủ để đạt được mục tiêu tăng hiệu suất năng lượng 20% vào năm 2020.

The global economic recovery will fuel ever greater demand for oil this year, with higher fuel prices expected to add a 15 percent burden on advanced economies, the IEA warned on Thursday. "Under current assumptions for global GDP, oil price and oil demand, the global oil burden could rise to 4.7 percent in 2011, getting close to levels that have coincided in the past with a marked economic slowdown," the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly Oil Market Report.

People were skeptical when the idea was first floated about a year ago, says Nick Getzen, spokesman for The Jobs Project, which is trying to create renewable energy job opportunities in West Virginia and Kentucky. In the southern coalfields, he says, people have only ever gotten electricity one way – from coal-fired power plants.

Germany, a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives, is also at the forefront of creating environment-friendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use, raising awareness through play.

Energy commissioner considering infrastructure bonds and streamlining national schemes to reduce pressure on banks.EU sources told the newswire that a new type of infrastructure project bond, proposed by commission president Jose Manuel Barroso last year, is likely to be given precedence as a new funding source.

Israel vừa phát hiện một mỏ khí đốt khổng lồ ở ngoài khơi vùng biển cách thành phố cảng Haifa của nước này khoảng 130km, với trữ lượng lớn chưa từng thấy. Mỏ khí đốt trên có tên Leviathan. Theo kết quả thăm dò do Công ty Noble Energy của Mỹ ước tính mỏ Leviathan có trữ lượng khoảng 450 tỷ mét khối khí tự nhiên.

The site allows homeowners and property developers to work out the optimum size of any solar power system they wish to install, and provides users with links to local installers. The site is designed to encourage more uptake of renewable energy in the region and to fuel job growth, according to DRCOG executive director, Jennifer Schaufele.

Renewable energy experts have described Portland Port as perfectly positioned to become a future green energy hub at a conference. More than 80 representatives from companies which develop and build offshore renewable energy sites were welcomed to the Portland Heights Hotel for the industry insight.

The director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, Jeremy Nicholson has said that failure of wind how has very profound implications. This comes after new figures have shown that during the recent cold period, wind power produced less than two percent of the nation’s electricity. He says that because of this, the government will encourage companies to build back up stations in case of further failures.

Havana Energy Ltd – part of the Esencia Group of companies - has teamed up with Zerus SA, a company linked to the Ministry of Sugar, to develop a pilot 30MW power plant at Ciro Redondo Sugar Mill, about 400km from Havana, and as a second stage four further power plants. The business will be developed in a joint venture company.

You might dream of living off the grid someday, but for billions of people around the world, it's a reality and not a choice. The International Energy Agency estimates that when the Earth's population exeeds 8 billion around 2030, 1.3 billion will still live without electricity. Of those, 700 million will be in Africa.

Researchers at the University of Leeds are developing a roasting process that would transform raw biomass from a bulky , water-saturated material into an energy-rich powder that is perfect for burning in coal-fired power plants. Called torrefaction, it is a relatively low-temperature process similar to that used in roasting coffee beans. If the researchers can overcome a few stumbling blocks, the process could lead to a new burst of coal-to-biomass power plant conversions, and consequently to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Both the private sector and government in Korea have increased spending on clean energy and green technology development in the past few years. Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy has worked with private firms to find new improvements in battery technology, photovoltaics, geothermal power generation, and biofuels. And this year, the Korea government expects to inject 1 trillion won (US$900 million) into current and next generation clean energy sources.

Giám đốc Energy Intensive Users Group, ông Jeremy Nicholson nói rằng tình trạng này gây ra những hậu quả khá nghiêm trọng. Những số liệu mới đã cho thấy trong suốt thời kì lạnh giá vừa qua, điện gió chỉ cung cấp được chưa tới 2% sản lượng điện quốc gia. Ông cho biết cũng bởi thế mà chính phủ sẽ khuyến khích các công ty xây dựng các trạm dữ trự điện, đề phòng trường hợp thiếu điện sau này.

This is the finding of a recent US study that was compiled by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Department of Energy, the University of Maryland and NASA, which introduced a new assessment method to analyze interactions between solar thermal and electrical systems. The aim is to overcome one of the greatest difficulties of economic models that were used up to now for the energy evaluation of solar power, which practically did not take into account the source’s natural variability compared to network loads.

Benbole Energy Farm, between St Kew and St Mabyn near Bodmin in North Cornwall, has been granted permission by Cornwall councillors following an application to develop the 10-acre site. It means the farm will provide up to 800 homes with green energy. Renewable energy consultants Silicon Valley Limited, who successfully applied for planning permission, say construction work will begin in January.