Solar generation costs will likely continue to fall

There is a lot of debate, analysis and, yes, confusion about the competitiveness of various generation sources. Giles Parkinson writes a good article on the reneweconomy website about solar generation costs and how they are likely to fall below the average wholesale price of electricity across Europe by 2030.   Why solar PV is unstoppable … Continue reading Solar generation costs will likely continue to fall →

Loopholes will persist in new EU emissions tests for vehicles

The IEA first wrote about vehicle tests back in 1984 and one would think we have solved the problems in accuracy. Andy Sharman writes in the Financial Times that the new emissions test will do little to bring official results into line with reality.   New emissions test still falls short, say critics A tough … Continue reading Loopholes will persist in new EU emissions tests for vehicles →

Regulations driving energy efficiency improvements

Writing on the BusinessGreen website, Stuart Turner of Hamworthy Heating looks beyond EU legislation on boiler efficiency to discuss how the real energy savings are to be achieved.   Who’s driving energy- efficiency improvements? ErP [the Energy Related Products Directive] is seen as the driving force for energy-efficiency improvements. The criteria set out in the … Continue reading Regulations driving energy efficiency improvements →

The benefits from renewable energy

We are in the midst of a low-carbon transition and renewable energy technologies are playing an increasingly important role. Bobby Magill reports on the SBS website that building wind and solar farms helps to reduce the human impact on climate change by displacing noxious emissions from coal-fired power plants.   Renewable energy saves lives, study … Continue reading The benefits from renewable energy →

Increase in energy storage deployment

We’ve been looking for breakthroughs in energy storage to allow for renewable energies to play a better role. Chelsea Harvey provides a detailed report in the Financial Times about recent developments.   Spurred by innovators like Tesla, the energy storage business is growing fast Back in May, Tesla turned heads when it announced its plans … Continue reading Increase in energy storage deployment →

Latest update on climate finance

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides the August update on global developments in climate finance.   August 2015 Climate Finance Update During August 2015, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the … Continue reading Latest update on climate finance →

Positive developments in getting property owners to appreciate benefits of energy efficiency

The buildings sector is reputed to have the highest potential for energy efficiency improvements but everyone realises the problems to get owners and occupiers to improve energy performance. Merrill Kramer and Joshua Sturtevant from Sullivan & Worcester LLP in the US write on the lexology website about how attitudes of owners are changing.   Property … Continue reading Positive developments in getting property owners to appreciate benefits of energy efficiency →

Germany supporting development of renewables in Indonesia

We are regularly hearing about the support that the German development bank is providing globally to support sustainable energy. The Jakarta Post writes about major new loans from KfW to Indonesia to support the development of new and renewable energy resources.   German bank offers 2 billion euros for renewable energy Germany has reiterated its … Continue reading Germany supporting development of renewables in Indonesia →