La crisis de Abengoa se ha cobrado la cabeza de su presidente. Felipe Benjumea deja su puesto de presidente ejecutivo como parte de un paquete de medidas para sacar adelante una ampliación de capital con la que reducir la abultada deuda del grupo, que se ha hundido en Bolsa por su apalancamiento y una crisis de credibilidad. La compañía ha acordado dejar de pagar dividendo, limitar las inversiones y vender activos por 1.200 millones para reducir deuda. Con todo ello, ha logrado apoyos para sacar adelante la ampliación de capital y salvar la compañía.
Limejump is a classic example of a startup bringing a big data and cloud-based solution to a legacy market, and in doing so has the potential to transform that market.
Calling itself a technology-driven utility, the company helps high-energy intensity businesses and small-scale distributed generators plug into the National Grid’s demand response programmes. This enables those businesses and generators to earn additional revenue for ramping down energy usage or ramping up energy production during peak times.
Fuel made inexpensively through artificial photosynthesis could be the ultimate renewable energy source. Now researchers at Caltech say they have built the first prototype of an artificial leaf that is both efficient and safe. They say the device, which uses light and water to make clean hydrogen fuel, could lead to a commercially viable version in the near future.
The technology uses the sun’s energy to split water to make hydrogen for storing solar energy or for use as fuel. A photovoltaic material captures photons and generates electrons, which are passed on to chemical catalysts to do the water splitting. Nate Lewis, a professor of chemistry at Caltech, led the new research.
Los socios canadienses de Florentino Pérez en la fallida plataforma gasista de Castor han llevado a la compañía que preside, ACS (ver cotización), ante el tribunal de arbitraje Cámara Internacional de Comercio con sede en París, por un desacuerdo en cómo se ha repartido la indemnización abonada por el Gobierno tras hibernar el almacén de gas.
The rapid expansion of onshore wind energy in Germany has slowed significantly in the first half of 2015, with the industry representatives saying it is now up to the German government but also the EU. EurActiv Germany reports.
La Alianza Europea de Centros de Investigación en Energía (EERA) ha comenzado las actividades de su nuevo programa de trabajo sobre eficiencia energética en procesos industriales (EEIP), con la reunión de lanzamiento que ha tenido lugar en Ámsterdam.
Europe's electricity sector needs to open up to the Internet of Things, where objects are connected to each other via the World Wide Web, policymakers told a Berlin industry event on Tuesday (2 June).
“We know the development of electricity production and distribution schemes and our electricity grid, including smart meters and smart grids, will closely correspond to the further development of the Internet," said Peter Altmaier, the chief of staff of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a former environment minister.
Attempting to chart a path forward for the beleaguered biofuels industry, a group of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, have devised what they describe as a novel method for producing renewable jet fuel. Using sugarcane and the sugarcane waste called bagasse, the new process (described in a paper in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) could enable green refineries to put out a range of products, including bio-based aviation fuel and automotive lubricant base oils.
The Western world may have grown accustomed to microwave ovens and electric burners, but the majority of developing populations still cook their food and heat their homes over an open fire. While that may seem like a more “pastoral” and healthy way to live, the World Health Organization reports that up to four million people die from the direct and indirect effects of cooking with solid fuels, like wood, charcoal and coal.
