Australia: PM called talks to derail renewable energy
The Federal Government and fossil-fuel industry executives discussed ways to stifle growing investment in renewable energy projects at a secret meeting earlier this year.
Electricity
Fuel Cell Celebrates One Year
Fairbanks, Alaska — The University of Alaska Fairbanks and Fuel Cell Technologies of Kingston, Ontario, have announced that the five-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell installed in Fairbanks has successfully passed the one-year field operational mark.
Renewable electrical generation an ‘economic driver’ — study
Renewable energy production is “an economic driver as well as a nice thing to placate tree-huggers,” according to an energy specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Utilities see big things in store for micro-power units
Flexible, cheap and easy on the environment, mini-hydropower generators are creating a buzz. You don’t have to change the course of rivers and move mountains to generate electricity.
Australia: Innovative tidal energy generator gets go ahead
A self-taught inventor has signed a contract with Country Energy, one of the country’s biggest power grids, to test a new source of clean and renewable electricity that will harness ocean currents and has the potential to drastically reduce electricity costs on islands.
Q&A: The Future Of Energy
Newsweek Middle East regional editor Christopher Dickey and Forbes.Com editor Paul Maidment respond to queries from Forbes readers about the future of energy.
Germany inaugurates new solar power plant in its push for more
German Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin recently inaugurated a large solar-powered energy plant in the eastern city of Espenhain, noting that Germany is the leading European country to install solar energy facilities.
Wind power gets the thumbs up
NEARLY three-quarters of the population agree wind farms are necessary to help meet the UK’s current and future energy needs, despite a vocal protest against their expansion.
Why does Wall Street continue to look down on renewable energy?
If alternative-energy companies are so hot, why are their stocks so unpopular? Record-high oil prices make wind and solar increasingly competitive. Fear of climate change should brighten prospects for any alternative to fossil fuels, which release the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Yet over the past two years, the worldwide stock-market value of companies developing renewable energy—which includes everything from wind and solar to recycling—fell from $13 billion to $10.7 billion, while the value of fossil-fuel companies surged to record highs of more than $1.2 trillion.
Turbulence over turbines in Cumbria
In the blustery northwest corner of Cumbria, wind farms are becoming part of the landscape.
Blair’s missing the point on financing renewables: fossil volatility costs more
Renewable and low-carbon energy are not just the long-term solutions to climate change. They are indispensable today if we are to cushion the British economy against volatile oil and gas prices and the impending peak in world oil production – not least the dwindling reserves in the North Sea.
Blair’s missing the point on financing renewables: fossil volatility costs more
Tony Blair’s call on British businesses to take the moral lead on climate change is laudable and his encouragement to the UK renewable and low-carbon energy industry is welcome. But by tying renewables so closely to climate change, we are in danger of undervaluing them.