Tag: renewable energy

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

An increasing amount of help and advice is given to European companies that wish to sell their goods and services in emerging markets such as China and India, where renewable energy and green technologies are seen as major areas for growth.

The EU is putting in place an ambitious energy policy in a bid to improve security of supplies and achieve bold CO2 reduction targets. But how does the EU decision-making process function on energy-related issues? And what is the role of the industry sector and interest groups?

The European Parliament yesterday (11 November) approved a deal between the EU institutions to free up €146 million of unspent EU recovery funds to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

Existing solutions to man-made climate change that are politically acceptable and feasible to implement now need to be embraced, writes Jeffrey D. Sachs, professor of economics and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals.

The European Commission is looking into mechanisms to boost public acceptance of renewable energy projects to meet its climate goals, but behavioural scientists warn that obvious solutions like individual compensation do not always work.

Renewable energy is set to make up nearly two-thirds of new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU over the next decade, according to new estimates by the European Commission.

Funding green technology research to bring down the cost of green energy is the most realistic way of fighting climate change, writes Bjørn Lomborg, author of The Sceptical Environmentalist and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School.

The EU's Eastern European newcomers, who still need to catch up with the rest of the Union in terms of economic and social development, face an uphill battle to attain the 'climate targets' laid out in the bloc's 'Europe 2020' strategy, a round-up of articles from the EurActiv media network reveals.

Italy's renewable electricity sector is growing at a pace that would put the country on course to meet its 2020 renewable energy goals, Francesco Starace, chairman of Enel Green Power, told EurActiv in an interview.

The French government has launched an ambitious plan to meet the EU's '20/20/20' climate objectives on emission reductions and renewable energy. The Grenelle 2 law, adopted in May 2010, was widely welcomed as an improvement, but many voices criticised the government for backtracking from its initial objectives. EurActiv France reports.

A more coordinated approach to electricity grid planning is needed if Europe is to reap the benefits of large-scale investment in renewable energies, said large EU power firms and the wind sector in a joint statement yesterday (9 June).

Europe has put in place legislation to promote renewable energies but is now faced with the challenge of integrating increasing amounts of intermittent power sources like solar and wind into the electricity grid, running the risk of destabilising it.

The expansion of renewable energies poses a challenge to existing electricity grids. The boom in weather-dependent power sources like wind and solar requires the development of storage technologies and smart grids, write Thu-Lan Nguyen and Josef Auer of Deutsche Bank (DB) Research in an April paper.

European regions are moving ahead with reforming their energy sectors with or without an invitation from the European Commission, a gathering of regional representatives heard in Brussels yesterday (29 April).

The Finnish government yesterday (21 April) unveiled plans for two new nuclear reactors as part of the country's drive to meet the EU's climate obligations and free itself completely from Russian imports.

Biogas has become an attractive alternative source of energy in Europe as the renewable fuel serves several policy priorities, ranging from increased domestic energy production to the reduction of greenhouse gases and more efficient waste treatment.

Only five EU member states are planning to buy renewable energy from other countries, while the EU as a whole is on track to exceed its 20% collective target, the European Commission said yesterday (11 March).

As most renewable energies are still more expensive than fossil fuels, a variety of support schemes have been put in place to accelerate their uptake and meet the EU's goal of sourcing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.