Renewable Energy News

If you read the reports from major energy agencies and industry associations, you might be tempted to conclude there is a bright future where all types of renewable energies will flourish and coexist peacefully. Well, they will not. Much like in any other sector, some technologies will trump others. Previously we analyzed how solar photovoltaic (PV

The global renewable energy sector held steady in the first quarter of 2013, as shown in the quarterly All-Renewables Index from Ernst & Young (EY). So far 2013 has seen few changes on a broad scale, but some interesting trends in many countries.

An alloy that may improve high-temperature electronics in oil and geothermal wells was really a solution in search of a problem.

These are heady times for tidal energy, says Matthew Reed, engineering director at Marine Current Turbines (MCT). "It's all kicking off now," he said in an interview at RenewableUK's Wave & Tidal 2013 event in mid-March. "There's a sense of excitement."

Wind energy generated more than 5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity consistently over a 48-hour period last week in the UK, enough to power more than 10 percent of the country's overall electricity needs, and the equivalent of nearly four out of every 10 homes. Also, a record 5.296 GW of wind was present on the grid at one point, measured as average generation over a half-hour period.

NRG Energy Inc., the biggest power provider to U.S. utilities, has become a renegade in the $370 billion energy-distribution industry by providing electricity directly to consumers.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that it is not only necessary to do the right thing, but to do it the right way, as well. Sustainability is all too often just a fluffy word that implies doing the right thing, but it is important to make sure we are doing it the right way. When it comes to renewable energy, reports generally promote the greenness of

Not so long ago, news about energy efficiency focused on what the U.S. could or should do, but wasn’t doing to save energy. It was a tale of woe. That’s no longer the case. Now, report after report tells the story of a burgeoning energy efficiency market that is achieving a level of surprising savings. Consider a few news items over the last week.

A relatively new policy being considered for state renewable energy standards (RESs) is to allow geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) to be treated the same as traditional renewable energy sources for awarding renewable energy credits (RECs).

Solar markets in the Middle East are poised for massive growth, but evaluating new solar market opportunities can be an extremely difficult challenge. Market potential often depends on a number of complicated factors and assumptions that are either hard to quantify or difficult to compare side by side for different regions. Even worse still is the fact that the immense amount of news and data surrounding emerging markets in the middle east can become so overwhelming that it is nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff and determine exactly which pieces of data have significance and which should be outright ignored.

Romania, which Ernst & Young called "Eastern Europe's renewables haven" just a few months ago, now plans to follow other nations' recent moves in scaling back renewable energy subsidies to avoid further consumer price increases, the nation's minister-delegate for energy, Constantin Nita, announced in early March. The country is planning to cut the maximum value of its green certificates this summer or early in 2014, Nita said.

Much of sub-Saharan Africa has experienced remarkable economic growth since the start of the 21st century. Six of the ten fastest-growing economies worldwide between 2000 and 2010 were in the region and, if current growth rates continue, Africa's GDP should increase three-fold by 2030 and seven-fold by 2050.

A day after Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. became the solar industry's biggest corporate failure, workers continued to load and unload trucks at its main factory in China, adding to the global oversupply of panels.

Just one year after Greenpeace called out Apple for its use of fossil fuels in its "How Green Is Your Cloud" report – which graded Apple no higher than a "D" in four categories consisting of energy transparency, infrastructure siting, energy efficiency, and renewables and advocacy – Apple announced that its data centers are now powered by 100 percent renewable energy. In fact, renewables contribute to 75 percent of its entire corporate operations energy needs, according to its website.

Caribbean nations face an uncertain energy future. With an energy infrastructure designed in the era of low-priced and abundant oil, many of these nations depend almost entirely on petroleum to supply their electricity demands. With oil prices hovering between $90 and $110 a barrel and projected to rise, island nations reliant on heavy fuel oil for their electrical generation are being hard hit.

The inverter market for renewable energy systems in Europe earned more than €3.58 billion ($4.63 billion) in 2012 and this figure could rise to €5.24 billion ($6.77 billion) in 2018, according to new research.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S Chairman Bert Nordberg and Chief Executive Officer Ditlev Engel said the worst may be over for the wind turbine maker, which has lost 91 percent of its value since 2008.

Although end-market demand in 2012 did not achieve the levels many had hoped for, it still set a new record in terms of annual installed capacity.

Getting a free solar quote is probably the best way to open the door to a residential sale. People can finally see the numbers and get past their fear of solar being too expensive. The problem is that it can take a lot of time and marketing dollars to get people to get that quote. Wouldn’t it be great if people were actually enthusiastic about gett

One of the final steps for the Cape Wind offshore wind project in Massachusetts is being made with the signing of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) to arrange debt financing. BTMU itself is pitching in "a significant amount of debt capital" that will go toward development and construction costs. (Barclays will continue to advise Cape Wind, while the group and BTMU nail down the rest of the needed financing.)