When it comes to choosing sites for wind farms, nature conservation is always the last thing to be considered, falling behind the price of land, proximity to power lines and opposition from locals, writes Luke Dale-Harris.
EU energy ministers are poised to seek "non-binding" guidance from the European Commission on reform of green fuel subsidies as part of a debate on new post-2020 policy goals, according to a draft document.
The European Commission said on Thursday (29 November) it was investigating the possibility Germany's new renewables energy law is leading to the misuse of incentives and exemptions.
The European Commission’s proposal to amend the Renewable Energy Directive should be welcomed as a first step towards the elimination of the adverse impact of biofuels. But more incisive action is badly needed in the future, writes Enrico Partiti.
Europe risks losing out to the United States in the growing market for advanced biofuels without better regulation and clear policy signals, say leading members of the industry.
The growth of wind power generation is likely to slow over the next few years, hit by cutbacks in the budget subsidies in the United States and Europe that have driven 15 years of construction, says a report published today (14 November).
The European Union is on the right track for its 2020 renewables targets but will not receive real returns on investment until after that period, says a new Greenpeace EU report.
Generating all energy from renewable sources is no longer a pipe dream in Europe. From Denmark to Austria, we can see examples of a successful energy transition. Germany is clearly seen as the front-runner and an important driver - especially due to its nuclear phase-out. But the energy transition is not only “made in Germany” but also “made in Europe”, says Anna Leidreiter.
Global investment in clean energy fell to $56.6 billion (€43.9 billion) in the third quarter of 2012, down 20% year-on-year and signalling that 2012 will see the first annual decline in eight years, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
European biofuel mandates are unlikely to deliver a significant reduction and could even increase greenhouse gas emissions unless land use factors are considered, says a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
France's government begins a review of the world's most nuclear-dependent country's energy policy on Friday (14 September), strongly in support of its small and ailing renewables sector in an effort to boost local jobs and growth.
The European Commission has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into the import of Chinese solar panels and key components such as solar cells and solar wafers, a Commission statement said on Thursday (6 September).
A United Nations body has found that the European Union has failed in its commitments towards transparency and public participation in renewable energy policies - a move which has been hailed as a victory by wind farm opposition groups.
A struggling German solar business has been bought by a South Korean firm as the appetite of Asian companies for their western rivals shows no sign of letting up.
Germany may have to slow down its planned transformation to green energy, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said in an effort to assuage worries that consumers will bear the brunt of the immense costs of the switch from nuclear.
Europe has been unable to repeat the shale gas revolution that has swept the United States, and that could prove to be the unlikely saviour of long-term EU efforts to spur renewables and curb greenhouse gases.
The growing row over biofuels is ready to flare up again with German researchers claiming to have found evidence that European-produced biodiesel does not meet the sustainability targets claimed by Brussels.
China's solar firms warned of a trade war today (26 July) and urged the Chinese government to respond with all means to an anti-dumping complaint filed by European competitors.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) plays an important role in sketching out solutions, but at the moment other lobbyists and the big players in conventional energy have more influence, says Karlheinz Knickel.
Big EU countries such as France and Germany suggest that Poland should reduce its dependence on coal for its electricity. But Mieczysław Kasprzak explains why coal is so important to the country.
Clean, reliable and affordable energy is essential to the fabric of society itself, driving successful industries and businesses, says Igor Czerny of EDF.
Germany's decision to go non-nuclear, which has infuriated its neighbours, might one day appear as a blessing in disguise, says Eberhard Rhein.
Trillions of euros in investment in clean-energy technology are needed worldwide by mid-century to control rising carbon emissions, says a new report that could help shape the debate on some of Europe’s most controversial energy policies.
Europe must agree 2030 milestones as soon as possible to spur investment in renewable energy, or green power growth will fizzle once firm policy runs out in 2020, the European Commission said on Wednesday (6 June) in its latest strategy statement.
Europe should focus on cutting carbon emissions instead of just repeating the existing EU green policy targets which expire at the end of the decade, Britain's energy and climate chief Edward Davey told a global energy and environment summit.
Unpredictable cuts to Europe's feed-in tariff schemes for solar energy threaten the recession-hit renewable sector with disaster, the head of the solar industry’s business association has told EurActiv.
The volcanoes of Iceland could soon be pumping low-carbon electricity into the UK under government-backed plans for thousands of miles of high-voltage cables across the ocean floor.
Britain launched on Thursday a £20 million (€24 million) contest to support up to two pilot wave energy projects, as the government hopes to scale up the clean technology to power more homes and businesses and curb carbon emissions.
The EU’s emissions reduction target for 2020 could be facing an unlikely but grave obstacle, according to a growing number of scientists, EU officials and NGOs: the contribution of biomass to the EU’s renewable energy objectives for 2020.
The German government has agreed to accelerate the next round of cuts in state-mandated photovoltaic incentives by three months to April 1 after a record-breaking expansion of solar power in 2011.
Eight of Europe’s largest energy companies have launched a clean energy alliance with a call for the EU to set legally enforceable targets for 2030 in emissions reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
French solar power producers will receive a 10% premium on selling green power from April, as long as the electricity is produced using components manufactured in the European Union, France's environment ministry said on Thursday (16 February).
In March, the European Network of Transmission Systems Operators (ENTSO-E) will submit a comprehensive 10-year plan for public consultation which shows that most of the continent’s investments in electricity infrastructure will be “driven directly or indirectly by renewable integration concerns,” ENTSO-E told EurActiv.
Connie Hedegaard, the EU's climate action commissioner, has rejected calls to introduce a price floor to sustain Europe's depressed carbon market, saying she does not want a "politically regulated system". In a wide-ranging interview with EurActiv, she also called for rolling back fossil fuel subsidies and shifting them to renewable energies instead.
Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger has called for a pooling of national powers to set energy policy in Brussels after 2014, in an unscripted speech to European policymakers yesterday (31 January).
Global investment in clean energy reached a new high of $260bn (€203bn) last year, despite the financial crisis and the anti-environment agenda of Republicans in the US Congress, a United Nations investors' summit was told on Thursday (12 January).
In the midst of an existential crisis, the EU’s recently released Energy Roadmap 2050 represents a rare opportunity for the bloc to demonstrate unity, vision and leadership, writes Will Andrews, from FTI Consulting Brussels, an advisory firm.
Three of Europe's top renewable energy companies became the latest victims of a global collapse in prices, massive oversupply and governments slashing subsidies as austerity budgets are being adopted across the continent to contain the eurozone debt crisis.
Looming shortages of metals that are in high demand and dominated by a single supplier – China – threaten Europe’s goals for cleaner transport and sustainable energy, says a new study prepared for the European Commission.
Britain's solar subsidies will be dramatically cut by more than half, according to government documents that were prematurely published online and quickly taken down.
A US Department of Energy decision to invest $60 million (€43.5 million) in concentrated solar power (CSP) research and development over the next three years is a boon for an industry that is struggling to gain traction.
Solarworld AG is preparing an anti-dumping suit against Chinese firms operating in the EU, following a $1 billion action the German company launched in the US earlier this month.
A clean-energy recession caused by massive over-capacity in the solar panel market could have unexpected benefits for the nascent renewable industry, industry insiders say.
Solar heating systems can provide over half of households' hot water needs, according to the largest ever field trial of the green energy devices, conducted in the UK.
Rising global demand for cleaner energy from biomass could drive more land acquisition in poorer nations where food security and land rights are weak, according to an International Institute for Environment and Development report released yesterday (30 August).
Europe is in danger of falling behind in the green investment race, new research shows, after a bumper year for renewable energy around the world.
Despite generous feed-in tariffs and abundant sunshine, Greece and Portugal are "pioneers" when it comes to bureaucratic hurdles to solar PV deployment, said Eleni Despotou of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA).
Further mergers in the solar energy sector are unavoidable due to high competition as well as pressure from China, says Arno Behrens, head of energy at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a Brussels-based think-tank.
The solar thermal sector has been hit badly by the crisis in the construction sector, which had a direct impact on the heating industry, said Xavier Noyon, secretary-general of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF).
A slowdown in subsidies for solar power across European countries has encouraged companies to look oversees for greener pastures, threatening Europe's lead in this promising high-tech sector.
