Renewable Energy News

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy announced four research and development projects to bring next generation biofuels on line faster and drive down the cost of producing gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels from biomass. The projects — located in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin — represent a $13 million Energy Department investment. It was an additional $1 million over the $12 million target when DOE set the project in motion last December.

From a nondescript office building in suburban Sunrise, a small business is helping bring renewable energy to the Caribbean and Africa, including a solar-panel factory recently opened in Ethiopia.

Armenia does not have fossil fuel or coal reserves — it is entirely dependent on imported fuel for transportation, electricity generation, and heat production. Armenia has overcome the energy crisis of the 90’s and has built a viable energy system. However, compared to the year 1988, which was the peak of economic output of the Republic of Armenia, energy consumption lags far behind. The generation capacity in 1988 was over 3.5 GW, but the energy use in 2010 was on average below 1.2 GW. This can be explained by the fact that industry in Armenia has yet to recover fully from the economic decline that started with the collapse of the USSR.

The EU has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on biofuels imported from Argentina and Indonesia, its largest biodiesel suppliers, following a complaint by the European Biodiesel Board (EBB).

In its 2013 inventory report, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) found that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 3.3 percent in the EU in 2011 (latest available data), leading to the lowest emissions level since 1990.

On June 27, Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino (D), along with representatives from Environment Colorado, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) and solar installers were on hand at an active solar installation near Denver to unveil a new report, A Million Solar Roofs for Colorado, commissioned by Environment Colorado showing why

As we celebrate the 4th of July holiday, Americans everywhere will take a moment to remember the men and women who have made freedom possible. But let's not forget: freedom also carries a responsibility. It's simply not enough to remember those who have come before us and offer them thanks. We must also remember those who will follow us and offer t

It sounds too good to be true: a common marine species that consumes microorganisms and can be converted into a combustible biofuel for filling petrol tanks. And it can be cultivated in vast amounts: 200 kg per square metre of ocean surface area.

Sol Voltaics, the Swedish startup that aims to apply nanowire materials to solar modules to dramatically hike their efficiency, has pulled in more funding to keep it on track for a demonstration by year's end, a pilot line within the next two years, and commercial readiness by 2016.

In an effort to draw more private investment into renewable power projects in the country, Uganda has launched an innovative new renewable energy development financing programme, the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (GET FiT).

Armenia is set to develop its renewable energy resources in the coming years, announced its deputy minister of energy and natural resources Areg Galstyan. It will set its focus mainly on hydropower plants, but it will put some emphasis on solar energy, as well. However the government is hesitant towards the development of its wind sector.

Saudi Arabia started a program to assess its potential for generating renewable energy, part of an effort to lure $109 billion for building a solar industry that will free up more of its crude oil for export.

This morning while driving into work, I heard a great interview with former United States Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu on utility business models.  While the gist of what he said wasn’t new to me, the clean and elegant way he laid out what he sees as the future of utilities and solar power is worth sharing. Similar to how in the past telephone c

Technology giant Google has announced plans to power its data center in Hamina, Finland with wind energy from Sweden. The company has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Swedish developer O2 for the energy from O2’s planned 72-MW wind farm at Maevaara, in the Övertorneå and Pajala municipality in northern Sweden, which is slated to feature 24 Nordex 3-MW wind turbines.

Geothermal developers and industry advocates assembled in Reno this week for the Third Annual National Geothermal Summit focused much of their discussion on the potential for cost reduction through the use of new technology, and on revealing geothermal energy as more competitive with sun and wind renewables. “If we can reduce costs and increase revenues the market will react immediately,” surmised Aaron Mandell, the chief commercial officer for AltaRock Energy, a geothermal technology company based in Seattle.

Throughout the U.S., the sun shines the brightest and longest during the summer months, when the wind speeds are lowest. During the winter, the winds are more intense and sunlight is less available. Because peak operating times are different for these methods of alternative energy, combining the two systems can help generate a steady source of powe

I missed my regular monthly update on my Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2013 model portfolio last month, and a lot has happened to the individual companies since. Because of this, I will split this semiannual update in two parts. This part will look at the performance of the portfolio as a whole, and the reasons it's lagging its benchmarks. The next part will look at the news driving the performance of specific stocks.

In Frankfurt for the Renewable Energy World Europe and Power-GEN Europe post-conference brainstorming last week, the extent to which renewable energy rests at the heart of Europe’s energy mix was brought sharply into focus. At this regular follow-up to our major international power conference a very lively debate illustrated just how far renewable

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute just released a jam-packed, five-page fact sheet on energy efficiency and renewable energy jobs. National and state figures from different sources carry the punch line that in 2012 alone, there were over 110,000 jobs created in the clean energy sector. It references the Bureau of Labor Statistics' green

What if grid operators were unable to track the energy generation from a 2.7-GW solar project – the equivalent of several nuclear plants? Imagine the difficulties they would face.