Category: renewable energy

From the Clean Energy Ministerial

The third Clean Energy Ministerial of 23 leading countries was held in London late April.  Leaders from the 23-government Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4All) have given their backing to a renewed push to increase energy efficiency worldwide. Meeting at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM3) taking place … Continue reading From the Clean Energy Ministerial →

Clean energy investment reaches $263 billion in 2011

Global clean energy finance and investment (i.e. for renewables) grew to $263 billion in 2011, a 6.5% increase over the previous year, according to new research  released by The Pew Charitable Trusts.  Among G-20) nations, the United States reclaimed the top spot from China, which led the global clean energy race since 2009. Germany, Italy, … Continue reading Clean energy investment reaches $263 billion in 2011 →

Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way

Financing energy efficiency in buildings is a challenge to policy makers, to consumers and to the energy efficiency industries (services and products). Two innovative approaches have recently been discussed in the US. SolarCity SolarCity, a national provider of clean energy services, on March 27th unveiled a Home Energy Loan for energy efficiency upgrades that will … Continue reading Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way →

Renewable energy: Finnish, Greek and Polish legislation still not in line with EU rules

The Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) had to be implemented by member states by 5 December 2010. The transposition of EU legislation is a priority for the Commission, especially since unnecessary delays in implementing may jeopardise the achievement of the EU renewable energy objective for 2020. Finland, Greece, and Poland have not yet informed the Commission … Continue reading Renewable energy: Finnish, Greek and Polish legislation still not in line with EU rules →

Member State progress reports on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources

According to Article 22 of the Renewable Energy Directive, by 31 December 2011, and every two years thereafter, each member state is required to submit a report to the Commission on progress in promoting and using energy from renewable sources. These reports are expected to describe the overall renewable energy policy developments in each member … Continue reading Member State progress reports on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources →

Does building turbines use more energy than they produce?

This is an excellent article from February 29th in the Guardian by Leo Hickman on life cycle analysis of wind turbines. The average windfarm produces 20-25 times more energy during its operational life than was used to construct and install its turbines Critics of wind energy often claim that the energy used to construct a … Continue reading Does building turbines use more energy than they produce? →

Interesting reading . . .

Renewable Energies in Africa:  Current Knowledge This report summarises current knowledge at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre regarding Renewable Energy in Africa. It assesses current energy consumption and the share of renewables in African states, and attempts to estimate the technical potential of available resources of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower that could be … Continue reading Interesting reading . . . →

New Reference Material

New material on the glossary of terms for the co-decision process has been added to the EiD page on Reference Material. To help readers, various updates on policies, programmes, definitions and so on related to energy efficiency and renewable energy have been added.  Now, on the page you will find: 1 European Energy Efficiency Policies … Continue reading New Reference Material →

What Policies Work Best to Deploy Renewable Energy and Increase Energy Efficiency?

The World Bank Group recently held a workshop to discuss the topic of what policies work best.  The workshop noted that investment in renewable energy worldwide rose to about $250 billion in 2010, up from $160 billion in 2009, to reach about 20% of new investment in the energy space. This is rapid growth, but … Continue reading What Policies Work Best to Deploy Renewable Energy and Increase Energy Efficiency? →