Citing the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, environmental activists at a U.N. meeting Sunday urged bolder steps to tap renewable energy so the world doesn’t have to choose between the dangers of nuclear power and the ravages of climate change.

In a move, which is set to face severe opposition from motorists, the EU is planning to ban petrol and diesel powered cars from European cities by 2050. The decision is seen as an attempt by the 27-nation bloc to force people to adopt ‘green’ cars and reduce their dependence on oil. The plan will also help in protecting the environment.

In Paris they met Eric Besson, France's minister of industry and energy, and took part in a round-table discussion with both countries' energy and industrial leaders aimed at exchanging experience and developing partnerships. One result was the creation of a high level group jointly chaired by GDF-Suez CEO Gérard Mestrallet and Guillermo Luksic of the wide-ranging Quiñenco conglomerate.

Senator Joe Lieberman called for a temporary halt on the building of nuclear plants in the U.S., and many news organizations have reported that it could cause a major setback for U.S. nuclear policy. Last year, the Department of Energy announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of two nuclear plants in Georgia. The plants are part of a major push by President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu to support nuclear power in the United States.

Restoring power and government reconstruction spending are crucial to Japan's economy resuming growth, the IMF said Thursday, after Tokyo put the damage of the March 11 earthquake at $309 billion. International Monetary Fund officials said they expected a short-term slowdown, but growth would "rebound" to pre-quake levels and more.

Poland's government approved two bills creating a legal framework for the nuclear power industry and taking another step towards building the country's first nuclear plant, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. The bills, which now will be sent to parliament, create grounds for oversight of the investment process by National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) as well as instruments for state-controlled PGE to choose technology supplier.

Scientists are reporting development of an advanced lithium-ion battery that is ideal for powering the electric vehicles now making their way into dealer showrooms. The new battery can store large amounts of energy in a small space and has a high rate capacity, meaning it can provide current even in extreme temperatures.

Implementing the Power VI plan approved by the Government, the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is striving to accelerate the construction and complete the whole Son La hydropower project (capacity of 2,400 MW) at the end of 2012. In the short term, in 2011, EVN has planned to power on unit 2 on Apr 30th; unit 3 on Aug 31st and unit 4 on Dec 31st.

CyberSmart Africa implements a practical and scalable solution to enlighten the frequently ignored rural schools with contemporary education. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CyberSmart’s “tech-lite” approach, which includes a specially adapted interactive whiteboard and other low-power digital tools, puts learning first. The system uniquely focuses on teacher training and puts the latest low-power, portable equipment to work directly in the classrooms of off-the-grid rural schools.

Advocates of coal power argue that it is among the cheapest sources of energy in the United States and allows for lower-cost power. But a new Harvard study found that whatever money is saved in operation costs is completely negated by the cost coal plants inadvertently pass on to the American public: $345 billion.

The capital's nuclear programme is progressing well but must now begin to pay greater attention to areas surrounding nuclear fuel supply and disposal, and protection of facilities, said a review board set up by the emirate's Government.

Clearing up the regulatory hurdles that are slowing development of electricity transmission lines would provide a significant boost to U.S. wind power development, industry officials said Wednesday. The American Wind Energy Association is holding a two-day workshop in Omaha focused on the challenges of transmitting power to places that need it. The biggest regulatory barriers have to do with who pays for high-voltage transmission lines and who decides where the lines will go.

Until last year, wind power appeared immune to the worst ravages of an economic storm sweeping the globe. Then the world's biggest manufacturer of wind turbines took an axe to 3000 jobs in its native northern Europe. Did it signify not just a readjustment to a single producer's business model but a threat to the technology's continuing worldwide deployment? Or, as some believe, are fears of a decline in the sector's fortunes simply overblown?

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has directed the MOIT to soon complete and submit to the Government the mechanism issuing regulations to support, facilitate and encourage wind power projects in Vietnam.

Cục pin có tên Hyperion Power Module, được thiết kế để cung cấp năng lượng cho các thành phố nhỏ với số hộ dân ít hơn 20.000 nhà, cũng như những căn cứ quân đội, những công ty khai thác mỏ, những nhà máy khử muối, và thậm chí cả những tàu thương mại hoặc du thuyền. Ông John Deal, CEO của Hyperion Power, nói: “Công nghệ của chúng ta đang thay đổi diện mạo. Có rất nhiều ứng dụng thú vị”.

Automobiles, military vehicles, even large-scale power generating facilities may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to a new alloy developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. A team of researchers at the Lab that is jointly funded by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, achieved a 25 percent improvement in the ability of a key material to convert heat into electrical energy.

Solar power could be on the brink of economic breakthrough, reaching investment levels of €70 billion in 2015, according to a major study out this week. The report, Solar Generation 6, by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) and Greenpeace International estimates that photovoltics could meet 12% of European demand by 2020 and up to 9% of the world’s demand by 2030.

The UK government has formally announced that it intends to set up a new independent statutory body to regulate nuclear power in the UK, taking over regulatory functions currently performed under the auspices of two different bodies.

Another China's fully self-developed No. 1 unit reactor pressure vessel, projected by Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant and manufactured by China First Heavy Industries (CFHI) recently passed a test successfully.

A researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has invented a method of making high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables that are thinner and more flexible than demonstration HTS cables now installed in the electric power grid while carrying the same or more current. The compact cables could be used in the electric grid as well as scientific and medical equipment and may enable HTS power transmission for military applications.