Automobiles, military vehicles, even large-scale power generating facilities may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to a new alloy developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. A team of researchers at the Lab that is jointly funded by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, achieved a 25 percent improvement in the ability of a key material to convert heat into electrical energy.

India was taking serious steps to promote alternative technologies that used bio-fuels and solar and wind energy, a senior official said Saturday. India also has plans to produce more bio-fuels and electric vehicles to save petrol for other vital needs, Sohail Akhtar, director in the ministry of new and renewable energy, said.

The UK government has formally announced that it intends to set up a new independent statutory body to regulate nuclear power in the UK, taking over regulatory functions currently performed under the auspices of two different bodies.

Asia leads the growth in global wind power, which grew 35.8 GW in 2010 bringing total global capacity to 194.4 GW – up 22.5% from 2009, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) says. Wind power installations in 2010 represented investments worth €47.3 billion, but the global wind power market was nonetheless down for the first time in 20 years. New installations fell 7% compared to 2009, mainly due to a disappointing year in the US, as well as a slowdown in Europe.

France’s solar-panel imports surged last year as developers relied mostly on foreign manufacturers to supply a boom in renewable-energy projects, Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said. French customs figures show the deficit in favor of solar panel imports widened to 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in 2010 compared with 800 million euros the previous year, she said at a conference in Paris.

The research overcomes a major obstacle to producing sustainable and low-cost biofuels. Current biofuel production relies on fermenting sugars found in sugar cane, beets, corn and similar food crops. This process threatens the food supply and is not an eco-friendly solution. To tackle these issues, researchers are exploring new techniques to change woody plants and grasses to liquid fuel, which will absorb both the atmospheric CO2 and the CO2 produced during its process.

Đó là kết luận trong Chỉ số thành phố xanh châu Á – một cuộc nghiên cứu do Đơn vị tình báo kinh tế (EIU) thực hiện dựa trên xếp hạng từ 22 thành phố lớn của châu Á. Theo Channel News Asia, Singapore được đánh giá rất cao trong việc đề ra các mục tiêu đầy tham vọng có lợi cho môi trường cũng như các chiến lược hữu hiệu để đạt được chúng. Đặc biệt, trong chiến lược tiết kiệm năng lượng, Singapore đạt được điểm tối đa.

People were skeptical when the idea was first floated about a year ago, says Nick Getzen, spokesman for The Jobs Project, which is trying to create renewable energy job opportunities in West Virginia and Kentucky. In the southern coalfields, he says, people have only ever gotten electricity one way – from coal-fired power plants.

Germany, a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives, is also at the forefront of creating environment-friendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use, raising awareness through play.

Energy commissioner considering infrastructure bonds and streamlining national schemes to reduce pressure on banks.EU sources told the newswire that a new type of infrastructure project bond, proposed by commission president Jose Manuel Barroso last year, is likely to be given precedence as a new funding source.

The site allows homeowners and property developers to work out the optimum size of any solar power system they wish to install, and provides users with links to local installers. The site is designed to encourage more uptake of renewable energy in the region and to fuel job growth, according to DRCOG executive director, Jennifer Schaufele.

Các chuyên gia năng lượng tái tạo cho rằng cảng Portland (Anh) là nơi lí tưởng để trở thành trung tâm năng lượng xanh trong tương lai. Hơn 80 đại biểu từ các công ty xây dựng và phát triển khu năng lượng tái tạo ngoài khơi đã có mặt tại khách sạn Portland Heights để tham dự buổi hội thảo “Ports, Gateway to Offshore Renewables” do Ban quản lí cảng Portland và cơ quan tư vấn năng lượng tái tạo Regen SW tổ chức lần đầu tiên.

Renewable energy experts have described Portland Port as perfectly positioned to become a future green energy hub at a conference. More than 80 representatives from companies which develop and build offshore renewable energy sites were welcomed to the Portland Heights Hotel for the industry insight.

The director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, Jeremy Nicholson has said that failure of wind how has very profound implications. This comes after new figures have shown that during the recent cold period, wind power produced less than two percent of the nation’s electricity. He says that because of this, the government will encourage companies to build back up stations in case of further failures.

Havana Energy Ltd – part of the Esencia Group of companies - has teamed up with Zerus SA, a company linked to the Ministry of Sugar, to develop a pilot 30MW power plant at Ciro Redondo Sugar Mill, about 400km from Havana, and as a second stage four further power plants. The business will be developed in a joint venture company.

Researchers at the University of Leeds are developing a roasting process that would transform raw biomass from a bulky , water-saturated material into an energy-rich powder that is perfect for burning in coal-fired power plants. Called torrefaction, it is a relatively low-temperature process similar to that used in roasting coffee beans. If the researchers can overcome a few stumbling blocks, the process could lead to a new burst of coal-to-biomass power plant conversions, and consequently to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Both the private sector and government in Korea have increased spending on clean energy and green technology development in the past few years. Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy has worked with private firms to find new improvements in battery technology, photovoltaics, geothermal power generation, and biofuels. And this year, the Korea government expects to inject 1 trillion won (US$900 million) into current and next generation clean energy sources.

UK regulator, the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA), has issued the subsidiaries of two major oil companies with penalties for not meeting biofuel standards. Under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), companies supplying over 450,000 l of petrol or diesel to the UK market have to register with the RFA and match their supply with a percentage of biofuel, as well as providing information on its carbon intensity and sustainability.

This is the finding of a recent US study that was compiled by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Department of Energy, the University of Maryland and NASA, which introduced a new assessment method to analyze interactions between solar thermal and electrical systems. The aim is to overcome one of the greatest difficulties of economic models that were used up to now for the energy evaluation of solar power, which practically did not take into account the source’s natural variability compared to network loads.

Benbole Energy Farm, between St Kew and St Mabyn near Bodmin in North Cornwall, has been granted permission by Cornwall councillors following an application to develop the 10-acre site. It means the farm will provide up to 800 homes with green energy. Renewable energy consultants Silicon Valley Limited, who successfully applied for planning permission, say construction work will begin in January.