IEA backs renewable energy

2011-11-23T17:30:24Z

Renewable energy resources are growing very fast but countries still must be vigilant to ensure that they continue to expand, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.

The IEA, the energy advisory body to the developed countries, said renewable energy is a key element in meeting increasing demand and balancing environmental concerns.

IEA Executive Director SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page's moves to focus the Internet giant on fewer efforts.

Google terminating more products in house cleaning

2011-11-22T16:30:48Z

Google on Tuesday announced the latest list of products being tossed out as part of a drive by chief executive Larry Page to focus resources on more promising projects.

"We're in the process of shutting a number of products which haven't had the impact we'd hoped for, integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a diffe...

China confirms $1.7 trillion spending plan: U.S.

2011-11-21T02:00:33Z

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - China confirmed to visiting U.S. officials that Beijing plans to pour $1.7 trillion into the so-called "strategic sectors" over the coming five years, U.S. Commer...

Analysis: U.S. government a tenuous beachhead for biofuel firms

2011-11-20T12:00:09Z

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. military has emerged as a key ally for fledgling producers of non-food-based biofuels, who find themselves threatened by looming budget cuts and growing political hostility to renewable energy funding.

A Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced $600 million in aid for Indonesia Saturday, most of it for "green prosperity" in the world's third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

The money will be funnelled through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a

New wind-energy label gains Deutsche Bank support

2011-11-18T15:31:00Z

Deutsche Bank and a handful of other global firms pledged on Friday to get at least 25 percent of their energy from wind.

Companies including Deutsche Bank, the news service Bloomberg and the medical technology firm BD announced they would sign on to a new label, WindMade, which will designate companies that use wind energy.

The idea for the new label w...

Germany Environment Ministry opposes new solar cuts

2011-11-18T11:00:23Z

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Environment Ministry on Friday dismissed a proposal from the Economy Ministry to reduce the growth of new phot...

Big plans for Laughlin solar plant bogged down

2011-11-17T02:30:35Z

Back in June, some 40 degrees Fahrenheit ago, county commissioners swooned with excitement over the possibility of a Chinese solar power conglomerate investing $6 billion in solar arrays and industrial facilities near Laughlin.Plans are for ENN Mojave Energy Corp. to build the megadevelopment on 9,000 acres of land it would buy from Clark County. Over several years of invest...

Analysis: Energy Secy Chu faces showdown on Solyndra

2011-11-16T10:00:30Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it may take similar skills to navigate Washington politics as it does to make advances in physics research, a field in which he won a Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it may take similar skills to navigate Washington politics as it does to make advances in physics research, a field in which he won a South Africa signed a $250-million (183-million-euro) loan deal with the World Bank on Monday aimed at adding 200 Megawatts of solar and wind power to the coal-dependent country's grid.

The loan will help fund what the World Bank described as two of the largest renewable energy projects in Africa -- ...

Pahrump moves to export its sun west

2011-11-10T02:30:29Z

PAHRUMP - If all goes according to plan, sometime next year this rural community 60 miles from Las Vegas will become headquarters of Nevada's hottest solar energy corridor.

That a town best known for its state-sanctioned brothels could somehow pull itself to the center of the state's renewable energy economy seems like the unlikeliest of feats. That is, until you ...

Denmark says higher EU carbon goal politically vexed

2011-11-08T13:00:15Z

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Persuading the European Union as a whole to accept an increase in its target for cutting carbon emissions to 30 percent by 2020 would be politically very difficult, Danish Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard said on Tuesday.

First renewable energy exchange opens in Amsterdam

2011-11-07T10:02:16Z

Dutch-Belgian energy market provider APX-Endex launched a "biomass exchange" Thursday specialising in trading wood pellets as a source of renewable energy, a venture it said was a world first.

"The first biomass exchange in the world has officially been opened," Eric-Jan Hadderingh, spokesman for APX-Endex, told AFP.

"APX-Endex decided to be the first exchange in the world to launch exchange-traded certified wood pellet contracts," in Reuters) - A row between China and the United States over imports of cheaper solar products won't be the sector's death-knell but will ultimately speed innovation and cut costs, a top U.S. renewable energy official said.

Seven U.S. solar manufacturers last month asked the

Colombia Gumbo In New Orleans

2011-10-31T19:30:27Z

The Skinny on Rich Gold Veins (CBJ, BHV, SV, RDE)

NEW ORLEANS – Even in this town of French Quarter fusion, the nation of Colombia is in my face.

“I had good timing with Ventana (sold to a private Brazilian group), and I am back in that same area wi...

Blame the weather for your energy bill

2011-10-14T05:30:05Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Greater reliance on solar, wind and hydro power means that utilities can now blame extreme weather for high electricity and gas bills, a meteorologist at global forecaster WSI told Reuters.

Drought, freezing weather and heavy clouds can all hit household budgets as they restrict output from renewable energy plants.

"It gives the utility companies an easy excuse now, ...

France launches vast solar panel array

2011-10-13T12:30:23Z

France on Thursday launched its largest-ever solar energy farm, with an array of panels spread over about 200 hectares (500 acres) in the mountainous southern Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region.

With a production capacity of 90 megawatts, the vast photovoltaic park features nearly 113,000 solar panels and was built at a cost of 110 million euros ($137 million).

It has roughly the same surf...

GE investment puts Greenko's wind plans on track

2011-10-10T03:00:04Z

LONDON (Reuters) - London-listed clean energy producer Greenko said a $50 million investment by a unit of GE will put it on track to achieve 1 gigawatt (GW) of operational wind capacity by 2017.

A division of GE Energy Financial Services will invest the cash to support development of 500 megawatt (MW...

Energy loans official leaves in wake of Solyndra

2011-10-06T16:30:14Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday its top energy loans official was stepping down, following a widening probe into the embarrassing collapse of a solar panel company that got $535 million in federal support.

Jonathan Silver, a venture capitalist who had also worked for the Clinton...

White House debated Solyndra warnings: Democrat memo

2011-10-03T12:01:01Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and congressional Democrats released new internal documents on Monday that they said show top officials were aware and concerned about the financial stability of Reuters) - Britain's will launch its renewable heat incentive (RHI) by the end of November, roughly one month after its intended start date, after complaints by the European Commission (EC) that subsidies for large biomass technology we...

U.S. gives $136 million for advanced biofuels research

2011-09-28T10:00:14Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. university researchers will get $136 million to develop advanced biofuels, including to develop jet fuel, by using tall grasses, woody plants and energy cane, the U.S. government said on Wednesday.

Nearly two-thirds of the money will go toward aviation biofuels projects in the In a global economy, China could be the key to lifting our state out of the recession

In the early 1860s, in the newly named territory of Nevada, settlers had a problem. Gold and silver had just been discovered in the mountains, but there was no easy way to transport it out, or to get workers from the California-bas...

World water crisis spurs inventors

2011-09-20T08:30:13Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Solutions such as fog catchers, seawater greenhouses and fuel cells powered by microscopic bacteria are on show to help secure water supply and food production as rising population and climate change put the world's natural resources under strain.

Water limits are close to being breached in several countries, while food output has to rise up to 100 percent by 2050 to susta...

Look past superficial to find summit substance

2011-09-07T02:31:19Z

It would be so easy to snicker at the National Clean Energy Summit as a Harry Reid production, designed to promote a Democratic agenda, snipe at Republican policies and hype renewable energy.It would be so easy to chuckle at the disparate cast of characters populating the stag...

Make a commitment

2011-09-07T02:31:07Z

Leaders should show support for renewable energy development

Nevada has the potential to become a national leader in renewable energy development, displaying plenty of opportunities to tap into the state's abundant supply of solar, wind and geothermal resources. Nevada has been called "the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy," and

Rising biomass demand could drive land grabs: report

2011-08-30T09:30:14Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Rising global demand for cleaner energy from biomass could drive more land acquisition in poorer nations where food security and land rights are weak, an International Institute for Environment and Development report said on Tuesday.

"If left unchecked, the growing pressure on la...

Greece 'to export solar power to Germany'

2011-08-27T11:30:17Z

Wracked by debt but blessed with abundant sunshine, Greece plans to develop some 20,000 hectares of solar power parks in a bid to export renewable energy to Germany, a report said on Saturday.

Top-selling Ta Nea daily said the project, which has a tentative budget of 20 billion euros ($29 billion), could create 60,000 jobs at a time when Greece is battling a deep recession and record unemploym...

Quake-prone Japan looks at geothermal energy

2011-08-26T07:30:16Z

The forces that make Japan one of the world's most quake-prone and volcanic countries, and sparked a nuclear disaster, could become part of its long-term energy solution, experts say.

Steam and hot water billow and gush from deep below the ground at Japan's tens of thousands of famed hot springs and could be harnessed to drive turbines that generate electricity in a clean, safe and stable way, they say.

Although Japanese high-tech co...

Japan parliament passes key renewable energy reform

2011-08-25T23:30:10Z

TOKYO (Reuters) - Laws to promote renewable energy in Japan passed a final hurdle on Friday, with the upper house of parliament formally approving a scheme that investors hope will ramp up spending on solar, wind and other green energy.

The country is struggling to overhaul its energy policies after the March...

Japan renewable energy push clears key hurdle

2011-08-22T23:00:13Z

TOKYO (Reuters) - A lower house committee of Japan's parliament passed a bill on Tuesday to promote investment in solar and other renewable energy sources, marking an important step toward the country's goal of reducing its reliance on nuclear power.

The radiation crisis at the tsunami-hit BERLIN (Reuters) - It won't be easy to run a national railway on renewable energy like wind, hydro and solar power but that is what Germany's Deutsche Bahn aims to do for one simple reason: it's what ...

Japan pins hopes on green power laws, risks abound

2011-08-22T02:30:10Z

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's lawmakers have the opportunity to show how strong their support is for boosting renewable power supply to replace nuclear reactors with the passage of a green energy subsidy scheme likely within days.

The country is struggling to overhaul its energy policies after the March quake and...

Italy's Enel wins wind farm projects in Brazil

2011-08-19T14:00:14Z

Enel Green Power, the renewable energy arm of Italian giant Enel, has won three wind farm projects totalling 193 megawatts in Brazil's 2011 New Energy Auction, the company said in a statement Friday.

The estimated total investment for the three projects is approximately 330 million euros (476 million dollars).

The company described the deals as "a significant step forward in the deploy...

Biomass key for low-carbon energy, spurs food prices

2011-08-18T09:00:20Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Greater use of woody fuels is vital to slash global carbon emissions but fast advances in crop yields will be needed to avoid driving up food prices, members of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found.

Biofuels are alr...

World's biggest solar boat docks in Hong Kong

2011-08-15T12:30:34Z

There is "huge potential" to use alternative energy in the shipping industry, the man behind the world's biggest solar boat said on Monday as it arrived in Hong Kong as part of a global voyage.

PlanetSolar, a 31 by 15-metre (100 by 50 foot) white catamaran, is equipped with more than 500 square metres (5,380 square feet) of solar panelling and can reach a top speed of around 15 knots, equivalent to 25 kilometres (15 miles) per hour....

Strategic metal has Obama talking

2011-08-05T19:30:14Z

Q&A with American Vanadium Corp. (TSX: V.AVC) Presdient & CEO Bill Radvak.

President Obama likes vanadium; or rather, he likes to say the word vanadium. Last February Obama joked that "Vanadium redox fuel cells is one of the coolest things I've ever said out loud". Obama also said this "next generation energy st...

Deutsche Bahn, RWE sign renewable electric contract

2011-07-25T13:30:28Z

German national railway Deutsche Bahn (DB) and power company RWE signed on Monday a 15-year hydro-electric supply contract worth 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion).

RWE is to supply the railway operator with about 900 million kilowatthours of electricity per year, enough to run about one third of the DB's long distance trains for a year.

The same quantity would supply 250,000 German households for a similar period....

Indonesia green power steams ahead as economy booms

2011-07-22T04:00:07Z

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia can't get enough power to feed its booming economy and fortunately for Mochamad Sofyan, investors are lining up to invest billions of dollars in the country's growing green power sector.

Sofyan, head of the new and renewable energy division at state utility PLN, is bu...

U.S. government to install fuel cells at 8 military posts

2011-07-19T16:00:07Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Energy Department said on Tuesday it would install 18 fuel cell backup power systems at eight U.S. military posts, as part of a partnership with the Defense Department to bolster energy security.

"Projects like these fuel cell systems will help reduce fossil fue...

Solar ovens, renewable energy offer hope for Afghanistan

2011-07-18T19:30:16Z

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - At first, she noticed Afghan children hauling brush. Then, in Afghan family compounds, she noticed women tending small fires and trying to cook over them.

But it wasn't until U.S. diplomat Patricia McArdle realized how often it was sunny in Afgha...

Carbon dating technique to aid energy from waste

2011-07-15T10:01:47Z

LONDON (Reuters) - A new use for carbon dating will aid the production of energy from wood and waste, said a bio-energy group on Thursday after British regulatory approval of the new test.

Carbon dating is commonly used to estimate the age of ancient artifacts, exploiting the fact that a particular type of carbon disappears, or decays, at a fixed rate, so that the amount left behind clocks h...

Economy and energy

2011-07-15T02:30:20Z

Nation and Nevada should invest and help spur renewable energy industry

There is no doubt that the United States needs to find more sources of energy, and the country has the potential to lead in the development of renewable energy.However, a report issued by the Brook...

Why not tout clean-energy expertise?

2011-07-15T02:30:19Z

Las Vegas bills itself as the entertainment capital of the world, but it should promote another strength that gets virtually no attention - its specialization in green architecture and construction services.

So says the co-author of a study released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington on the nation'...

Germany ready to help Angola's reconstruction: Merkel

2011-07-13T14:30:26Z

Germany is ready to help Angola overcome the challenges it faces in reconstruction, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday during a visit that aims to boost economic ties with the oil-rich country.

"Angola still faces major development challenges, in education and professional training, as well as in reconstruction and development. Ger...

Germany unplugged

2011-07-08T19:30:20Z

The path the country will be compelled to take is to import more and more electricity. Going down this path has consequences that reach far beyond German borders.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently warned us the world will face higher energy costs, higher carbon emissions and greater uncertainty over security of energy supply if it turns its back on...

NTT DoCoMo plans green-energy cellphone masts

2011-07-08T06:30:25Z

Japan's largest mobile phone operator, NTT DoCoMo, plans to start powering its cellphone tower network with renewable energy such as solar, wind or biomass, the company said Friday.

The move could one day allow the company to feed excess electricity back into the grid, and would also act as a safeguard during power grid outages caused by natural disasters such as the March 11 qua...

UN says green energy investment at record level

2011-07-07T11:30:34Z

Investment in renewable energy last year amounted to a record 211 billion dollars, a rise of 32 percent over 2009 and 540 percent over 2004, a UN-backed report said on Thursday.

China, investing 48.9 billion dollars, up 28 percent, accounted for more than a fifth of the total, marking a year in which developing countries for the first time outstripped rich economies in...

Australia to unveil pollution tax

2011-07-05T01:30:08Z

Australia will unveil the full details of its contentious pollution tax within days, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Tuesday, promising help for households facing higher energy bills.

The tax, to apply to Australia's top 1,000 polluters from mid-2012, follows two failed attempts by the ruling Labor party to introduce an emissions trading scheme (ETS) in a bid to cut carbon emissions blam...

Governor Moonbeam has big plans for California sun

2011-07-01T12:30:13Z

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California plans to get a third of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy, but Governor "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown wants more. Soon.

The feisty 73-year-old who brings a forme...

Clean energy momentum at risk

2011-06-28T02:31:04Z

Program that funds green projects may end

The Energy Department has been teaming up with Nevada lawmakers on an almost monthly basis to announce loan guarantees for renewable energy projects across the Silver State, each of which is expected to create a few hundred jobs.

It's been a pretty good ride, congressional staffers (Democrats, really) remark; but it's one that soon could come to an...

Global consumers crave green energy in survey: Vestas

2011-06-27T21:30:08Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumers around the world overwhelmingly support the rollout of renewable energy, but many have mistaken views about "green" products, according to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup for Vestas Wind Systems.

The survey, which polled 31,000 consumers in 26 countries in May...

Greenpeace activists dump coal at S.Africa utility

2011-06-27T09:30:24Z

Greenpeace activists dumped three trucks of coal in front of the headquarters of South African state utility Eskom Monday to protest what they called its lack of commitment to green energy.

Activists from the global environmental organisation paraded in front of the five tonnes o...

Bordeaux glitterati unveil stunning wine cellars

2011-06-23T09:30:48Z

Construction cranes are as ubiquitous as wine critics in Bordeaux?s prized vineyards as leading chateaux brand their estates by transforming their cellars into architectural show pieces.

In the case of Chateau Clerc Milon, located across the road from the illustrious vineyards of Chateau Mouton Rothschild a...

Google, Citi invest another $204 million in wind project

2011-06-22T15:00:18Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc and Citigroup are investing another $204 million in the Alta Wind Energy Center in Southern Califor...

Sandoval vetoes controversial energy bill

2011-06-21T02:30:22Z

Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed a controversial transmission line and energy bill that had been heavily pushed by the state's most powerful lobbyists during the final hour of the 2011 Nevada legislative session.

Sandoval, in his veto message for Assembly Bill 416, expressed concerns about the potential impact on Nevada ratepayers and that the bill would allow...

Indian, Pakistani companies win green energy awards

2011-06-16T17:30:28Z

Two Indian companies which recycle waste products into sources of power and a Pakistani firm that fits energy-saving devices in homes were on Thursday honoured with major green energy awards.

They were three of the winners at this year's Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, one of the world's most prestigious green energy honours, each picking up £20,000 ($32,200, 22,800 euros) prize money at a London ceremony.

The British awards, which started in 2001, aim...

Analysis: Gas is killing green energy in price war

2011-06-16T13:00:22Z

LONDON (Reuters) - A widening shale gas revolution is killing the economics of renewable energy, even as falling costs allow wind and solar to overtake fossil fuels in niche areas, say energy executives and analysts.

Solar panel prices are down about 10 percent this year, but chasing a moving target as discovery of cheap shale gas spreads beyond the Reuters) - A reform of Italy's solar energy incentives scheme has put 1 billion euros ($1.41 billion) of financing for the sector at risk of renegotiation, the director general of Italian banking association ABI said on Thursday.

The association said it was ready to help solar operators renegotiate funding after cuts to spending on generous sol...

Nuclear vote forces Italy to ponder renewables

2011-06-14T13:30:27Z

The resounding no from Italians to nuclear power may not change much in the short term but it will force the government to adopt a new strategy based increasingly on renewable energy, experts said.

The referendum on Sunday and Monday showed a turnout of 54.79 percent for the referendum vote with the vote against nuclear power carried by 94.05 percent -- meaning a majority of Italians cast ballots against the measure.

Solar International, a Tokyo start-up that also has an office in California, will start producing the system ...

Japan PM reassures G8 over nuclear clean-up

2011-05-27T09:30:33Z

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan used a G8 summit in France to reassure Tokyo's most powerful allies Friday that his country would learn the lessons of its nuclear disaster and recover fully.

Kan, making his first foreign visit since his country's ...

Vanadium: Critical to U.S. industry

2011-05-18T19:30:17Z

Junior is on-track to become the only vanadium mine in the U.S. and is expected to begin operating as early as the end of 2012

Heightened global demand for vanadium, especially from China, is prompting the global steel industry to aggressively seek out new supplies, especially in the U.S. where this 21st century metal is becoming increasingly indisp...

Solar power lights up Bangladesh rural areas

2011-05-16T06:30:20Z

DHAKA (Reuters) - Solar power is in place in nearly a million homes in rural Bangladesh, which is drastically short of electricity, the World Bank said on Monday.

"More than 870,000 homes and shops in remote rural a...

Green energy can wean off subsidies, gradually

2011-05-05T06:30:15Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Government support for renewable energy must end gradually and in tandem with cuts in fossil fuel subsidies, say investors and lobbyists who complain bitterly about unpredictable chopping of incentives.

Most green energy sources still struggle to compete with fossil fuels except in favorable areas, for example for onshore wind in coastal areas of western Reuters) - Italy's environment and industry ministers reached an accord on plans to cut solar incentives, the environment minister said on Wednesday, after delays that had aroused complaints from international investors and solar firms.

The draft decree, which caps spending on Italy's generous solar power incentives, has been in th...

Italy solar capacity seen 7,000 MW at end June

2011-05-02T13:00:15Z

VERONA, Italy (Reuters) - Italy's total installed photovoltaic capacity may reach 7,000 megawatts by the end of June due to a rush to sign up for expiring incentives, a senior official at Italy's state energy services agency GSE said.

"I think we can arrive at 7,000 megawatts at the end of June," Gerardo Montanino, director of GSE's oper...

Samsung to invest $7.04 bn in wetland green town

2011-04-27T13:30:58Z

South Korea's largest business group Samsung signed an initial deal Wednesday to invest $7.04 billion in a state project to build a green energy complex on reclaimed wetland.

Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to spend 7.6 trillion won ($7.04 billion) on the construction of eco-friendly production facilities from 2021, the prime m...

SUN reader Sounds off

2011-04-27T02:30:27Z

On "Will green energy raise your electricity bill?" from SunJon:

The recent, unpredicted rise in gasoline prices and the Enron debacle tell the story of what large commercial interests can do to the price of any energy source. If coal or oil becomes an investor commodity, the price of energy will soar. Nevada's coal and oil sources are all out of s...

WILL GREEN ENERGY RAISE YOUR BILL? As Legislature pursues renewables, NV Energy, others say consumers will pick up the tab

2011-04-26T02:30:13Z

As Legislature pursues renewables, NV Energy, others say consumers will pick up the tab

It's easy to philosophically support green energy. But what are you willing to pay for it?

That's the question lawmakers are balancing this session, as they try to promote renewable energy, although the state's electric utility NV Energy and some consumer advocates warn such promotions will lead to higher electr...

Senior US senators meet Chinese officials

2011-04-21T03:30:20Z

A high-powered US Senate delegation led by lawmaker Harry Reid was in Beijing for talks with top Chinese leaders Thursday expected to touch on thorny economic issues and human rights.

On Wednesday, the delegation discussed global security issues, human rights and a range of other subjects with Vice Premier Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is visiting China this month as part of a delegation with tense diplomatic issues on the agenda, including trade and human rights. But the key issue for Nevada is in an area in which the two countries appear to be moving closer together: energy.

China is the financial force behind a wind...

Beijing launches action plan to fight pollution

2011-04-19T13:30:30Z

Beijing -- one of the world's most polluted cities -- launched a five-year action plan on Tuesday that aims to improve the environment by phasing out coal-fired boilers and reducing bad air days.

The Chinese capital's environmental protection bureau said that it wanted excellent or good air conditions for 80 percent of the days in the year by 2015.

The bureau added it aimed to reduce by around 10 percent the concentration of parti...

GM leads in clean energy patents: study

2011-04-15T16:30:18Z

General Motors received more clean energy patents in the past year than any other company, a study released Friday said.

GM's 135 patents represented nearly 14 percent of the 1,881 US patents obtained by 700 organizations in 2010, according to an analysis by the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index.

The successful patent applications came as GM made major investments in research and d...

Oil price "great concern" for economy: U.S. energy secretary

2011-04-07T07:00:15Z

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Thursday high oil prices posed a threat to the global economy.

"The oil producer countries and the oil consuming countries are concerned because it does have an impact on a very fragile economic recovery. There is great c...

IEA calls for scrapping $312 bln in fuel subsidies

2011-04-06T13:30:47Z

The International Energy Agency is calling for 312 billion dollars in fuel subsidies to be scrapped in a bid to promote clean energy sources, according to a report presented in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

"More aggressive clean energy policies are required, including the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and implementation of transparent, predictable an...

SOLAR POWER LUKEWARM ON JOB PRODUCTION Questions emerge as to the benefit of the state granting millions of dollars in tax breaks to company for photovoltaic array

2011-04-06T02:30:50Z

Questions emerge as to the benefit of the state granting millions of dollars in tax breaks to company for photovoltaic array

Some statistics about Copper Mountain Solar, a 775,000-panel array outside Boulder City that went online last year as the largest photovoltaic solar plant in the Japan's stumbling efforts to contain a nuclear crisis is encouraging promoters of renewable energy, but defenders of atomic power insist it has a long-term future.

Until the giant earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11 damaged the Fukushima plant, nuclear power was emerging as one of the main choices for countries looking at c...

Obama says cleaner energy will help job creation

2011-04-02T07:30:22Z

US President Barack Obama said Saturday that a transition to cleaner energy will help create more American jobs as he promoted his new initiative designed to reduce US energy imports by a third.

Shifting toward a clean energy economy "will ensure that the United States of America is home to the jobs and industries of tomorrow," Obama said in his weekly addr...

Philippines launches coal-fired power plant

2011-04-01T13:30:39Z

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday inaugurated a new coal-fired power plant that has attracted criticism from environmental and church groups.

The 164-megawatt plant on the central island of Panay will supply power to islands in the central Philippines, ending months of daily power outages that have plagued the region, Aquino said at the event.

He made ...

China, Germany move ahead on clean energy: study

2011-03-29T13:30:55Z

Germany has outpaced the United States as the number two player in clean energy while China keeps racing ahead as the world's green investment leader, a study said Tuesday.

The survey by the Pew Charitable Trusts found strong growth on a global ...

Japan PM urges clean energy push

2011-03-29T10:30:26Z

Japan's Premier Naoto Kan said Tuesday the country must push alternative energy sources as it recovers from its quake and tsunami disaster and struggles to contain a nuclear emergency.

"Taking this as a lesson, we have to lead the world in clean energy, such as solar and biomass, and make it a major pillar of a new Japan," the centre-left leader told a parliamentary committee.

His top ...

Undercutting the future

2011-03-29T04:31:07Z

Republican plan to end federal program would hurt Nevada and the nation

Developers are planning to build a 110-megawatt solar power plant north of Tonopah. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project would be unique, using U.S.-made molten-salt technology to store energy that would allow it to provide electricity throughout the day.The plant would be a boon to Nevada, creating 600 jobs on-site, and it would be a great source...

Tsunami's ripples could reach Nevada

2011-03-29T04:00:38Z

As Japan reels from explosions and meltdowns at nuclear reactors damaged by last week's tsunami, there's talk in Washington about reining in the United States' nuclear ambitions - discussions that will have an effect in Nevada.

Early cries for a moratorium on nuclear plant construction - s...

GOP fights funding for vital Nevada renewable projects

2011-03-29T03:31:19Z

Since it was officially announced in late 2009, the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Tonopah has been one of Nevada's flagship commercial renewable energy projects.

The planned 110-megawatt energy storage facility - nearly twice the capacity of the state's next largest solar plant - is expected to power about 75,000 NV Energy customers and create 600 jobs on-...

Blueprint for Nevada

2011-03-29T03:01:12Z

Reid makes case for sound economic strategy in the 21st century

As the Legislature sat in joint session Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered a thoughtful vision of Nevada's future that was unmistakable in tone, coming from a man who has invested a lifetime promoting the well-being of this state. The media undoubtedly will focus ...

Energizing Nevada

2011-03-29T03:00:36Z

New transmission line will connect state, pave way for green power plants

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week announced that the federal government would provide a $343 million loan guarantee for the construction of a major electrical transmission line in Reuters) - The United States fell one spot to third place in clean-energy investment last year as the lack of a national energy policy hurt purchases in wind and solar power and other technologies, a report said on Tuesday.

China came in first and

Italy minister: no capacity cap for solar aid: Ansa

2011-03-28T12:30:10Z

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy will not set solar power capacity limits under a new incentive scheme but will instead cap the amount of money it intends to spend for incentives, the environment minister was quoted as saying on Monday.

Details of Italy's new support scheme for the solar sector are keenly watched by international investors and industry operat...

Wind Power Public Lands

2010-12-13T12:01:44Z

In this Nov. 8, 2010 photo, a wind-driven turbine drives an electrical generator on private property near a site proposed for wind turbines to generate electricity, in the Mojave Desert near the town of Apple Valley, Calif. For years, wind farms sprouted on privately held land while projects on public lands languished, in part becau...

Mexico Climate Conference

2010-11-28T23:31:21Z

Mexican authorities and guests gather under a wind turbine during an event where Mexico's President Felipe Calderon activated a wind turbine that is planned to help power the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, Sun...

Philippines Climate Change

2010-11-28T09:30:26Z

Greenpeace activists wave windsocks as they campaign for the use of renewable energy Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 in Pasay City, south of Manila, Philippines. The Filipino activists called on President Benigno Aquino III to commit to 50 percent renewable energy by 2020 as one of the solutions to fight climate change. (AP Phot...

Solar Energy Plant

2010-11-13T08:31:22Z

In this Nov. 10, 2010 photo, solar panels at a 1.8 megawatt facility run by the Western Massachusetts Electric Company are shown in Pittsfield, Mass. It is the largest solar energy plant in New England. (AP Photo/Stewart Cairns)

China Economy

2010-10-28T03:00:33Z

In this Oct. 9, 2010 photo, a worker checks on a wind turbine inside a factory making wind turbines in Zouping county in east China's Shandong province. China's leaders are promising to narrow its huge trade surplus and curb surging emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases in an ambitious five-year plan to make its economy cleaner and more technology-driven. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

News on Alternative Energy

Google turns up investment in solar power

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Analysis: Solar companies to seek deep pockets in downturn

China solar industry rejects US anti-dumping probe

China solar executives aim to avoid trade war with U.S.

Developing economies see no escape from coal

Junior explorer jumps on gold assay results