Spain worries about lawsuits on renewable energy

Jose Elías Rodríguez and Andrés González write for the Reuter’s news service about the changes that the Spanish government is making to its renewable energy laws in order to avoid lawsuits because of the cuts in subsidies.Spain revising renewable energy laws to avoid lawsuits - sourcesSpain's government is rewriting planned new rules on renewable energy … Continue reading Spain worries about lawsuits on renewable energy →

Take note . . .

There are many interesting brief new reports or news items that should interest EiD readers. • New Germanwatch report: The End of EU Climate Leadership The EU is no longer the world leader on climate policies. Other major countries have caught up or even outpaced the EU, a new study conducted by Germanwatch says. Even … Continue reading Take note . . . →

Starting to see the full range of benefits from solar energy in Europe

Diana Powers writes in the New York Times about how solar energy is coming into the mainstream in Europe and that it is bringing many environmental benefits. It is good to see an American news service giving such attention to these developments in Europe. Solar Power Begins to Shine as Environmental Benefits Pay Off Amid … Continue reading Starting to see the full range of benefits from solar energy in Europe →

Music maestro!

When we listened to the Beatles singing Here Comes the Sun, little did we know how important music would be to the effectiveness of our solar panels. Steve Williams writes on the Care2makeadifference website about the role of music to help solar panels. Interesting to see the research going on at Imperial College in London. … Continue reading Music maestro! →

Where are subsidy policies going?

Following the numbers of the week Agence France Presse writes that the EU is having a re-think about the level of subsidies for renewable energy. Hopefully, whatever happens, there will be a level playing field, as they say. The numbers of the week show the extent of the subsidies for fossil fuels. Last week, the … Continue reading Where are subsidy policies going? →

Personal investments in renewable energy on the rise in the UK

Rebecca O’Connor, editor for the Trillium Fund, provides a detailed account of the dynamics of personal investing in renewables in Britain on the Ecologist website. While this is a welcome sign, it will be interesting if we see the same activity for energy efficiency. Any information on this will be welcome. Small investors pile billions … Continue reading Personal investments in renewable energy on the rise in the UK →

Let’s hope the answer is blowing in the wind

David Smith writes in the Guardian about the opening of Africa’s biggest windfarm in Ethiopia. Only 14% of the Ethiopian population has access to modern energy services and let’s hope this windfarm will turn that around to give access to the wider population. Ethiopia opens Africa's biggest windfarm A windfarm billed as the biggest in … Continue reading Let’s hope the answer is blowing in the wind →

Jobs are what count

The Social Democrat Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany has come out strong to support in favour of job protection before expansion of renewables according to a report from the German Energy Blog. SPD Premier of NRW: Jobs Protection in Energy and Energy-Intensive Industry More Important Than Speedy Expansion of Renewables Job protection in the … Continue reading Jobs are what count →

Serbia’s evolving energy system

Serbia is beginning negotiations to join the European Union. It has been developing its energy system and its policies are following EU requirements through its obligations in the Energy Community. Andrew MacDowall writes in the Financial Times about the push to promote renewable energy as well as discussing the energy policy priorities, which interestingly omits … Continue reading Serbia’s evolving energy system →

UN Secretary-General launches SE4ALL energy efficiency hub

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) opened a new global centre for Energy Efficiency as part of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative. The Energy Efficiency Hub (EE Hub), in Copenhagen, Denmark, will seek to help “drastically increase” energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment. … Continue reading UN Secretary-General launches SE4ALL energy efficiency hub →