The 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (26th EU PVSEC) will take place in Hamburg, Germany, at the CCH Congress Centre and International Fair Hamburg. The Conference extends over 5 days from 5-9 September 2011, the Exhibition runs over 4 days from 5-8 September 2011.

Germany is coping without about three quarters of its nuclear power capacity by burning more climate-warming coal, reaping the rewards of renewables investments, and importing more French atomic energy. The shutdown over the weekend of another nuclear plant means almost 16 gigawatts of German nuclear power capacity was offline Monday, with nearly half of the capacity ordered to shut by the government in reaction to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is anything but a left-wing greenie. The party she leads, the Christian Democratic Union, is the political equivalent of the Republicans in the U.S. Her coalition government is decidedly pro-business. Often described as Europe's most powerful politician, Merkel's top priority is job creation and economic growth.

This marks Google's first clean energy project investment in Europe, the company said in a blog post, though it still requires formal approval from Germany regulators. Google is teaming up with German private equity company Capital Stage for the project, a firm that "brings strong experience in the German photovoltaic and renewable energy market," Google said.

Minimum taxes on energy-rich diesel will rise under the EU plans, although the commission has stressed that this will not automatically result in a rise in diesel prices at the pump. It points to Germany and other member states where diesel taxes are already above the proposed new minimum threshold of €412 euros per 1,000 litres.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr in Berlin last week the ASI and Germany’s Deutches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) will collaborate to accelerate technologies aimed at enabling solar energy to become a sustainable energy source globally.

Under the plan, the Economics Ministry would use its fast-track powers to expedite the approval process for building transmission routes, among other planned measures. To date, one of the main obstacles of upgrading Germany’s network to carry energy generated by solar and wind has been the country’s patchwork approval process.

German Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen (C) arrives for a crisis meeting on biofuel Super E10 as German federal government meets with the chiefs of the oil industry for talks on why German motorists are refusing to fill their cars with a new ‘eco-friendly’ petrol, Berlin, Germany.

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.

The sun power industry in Germany, the world's leader in solar energy, is facing a tough year amid the threat of growing competition from Asia and falling prices. German solar-power companies rebounded last year from a dramatic slump in profit during 2009 as a boom in the sector took shape last year.

This will be enabled by an agreement, which was signed Monday in Skopje by the governments of Macedonia and Germany, envisaging financial assistance for the second stage of the energy efficiency program and a loan contract signed by the Macedonian government, ELEM company and KfW bank for realisation of the project rehabilitating six hydro power plants.

As countries such as China, the United States and Germany plow billions of tax dollars into renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, Canadian energy companies say the federal government urgently needs to develop a national strategy to grab a piece of the global clean-energy market, which attracted $162 billion US in investment last year.

Siemens has landed an order to supply 80 wind turbines for the Dan Tysk wind farm off Germany's North Sea coast. With a total capacity of 288 MW, the farm will begin supplying clean electricity to 500,000 German households in 2014. Dan Tysk Offshore Wind GmbH is owned by Vattenfall Europe with a 51 percent stake and Stadtwerke Munchen with a 49 percent stake.

According to the latest data from the Bundesnetzagentur, Germany's solar industry added another 1,000 MW during July and August. This brings the total for the eight-month period from January through August to 4,900 MW from nearly 175,000 solar installations.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) joined China, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United States in launching the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI) on October 1 at the Paris Motor Show in France. The new initiative will provide a platform for global cooperation on the development and deployment of electric vehicles.

Researchers around the world are trying to find new ways to reduce the time required to recharge the electric cars’ onboard batteries. Now, a group of fourteen students from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany have come up with a prototype electric car that is powered by electricity but unlike other electric vehicles, it doesn’t need a recharge.

The company has a thin film assembly line with an annual capacity of 40 MW. The company also has several manufacturing facilities around the country and exports solar panels to Germany, Italy in addition to setting up solar installations within the country.

Germany already leads the world on renewable energy and could become first G20 country to kick the fossil-fuel habit. Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil-fuel habit, the country's Federal Environment Agency said today.

Various bodies in construction have set up energy saving systems in buildings under the Research and Cooperation Program in accordance with protocols with other countries, for instance, cooperation with Bulgaria and Russia in saving energy in buildings; cooperation with Germany in saving energy in construction and reducing consequences of climate change.