The number of renewable energy jobs worldwide increased last year by more than a million, an 18% rise to 7.7 million, but dropped in the European Union.
The EU has said it wants to become the world number one in renewables. Its Energy Union strategy sets out measures by which it hopes to make up the gap on other countries.
EU leaders have set a target to hit 27% of the bloc’s energy consumption in 2030 to come from renewables last October. But the target is non-binding at national level, which has raised question over how the goal will be hit.
The year eCurv spent pitching its energy management software to potential customers has taught its founder a few lessons.
“The opportunity is much bigger than we thought,” said Edison Almeida, founder and chief executive of the Cambridge, MA, startup, which raised $2.5 million last June and has its eyes on another round of financing by the end of this year.
A new method for making hydrogen directly from plants could be an inexpensive way to generate fuel for alternative vehicles, perhaps paving the way for hydrogen refueling stations that rely on agricultural waste.
From plants to people, every living thing on this planet needs water. But getting enough to survive, and survive comfortably, that can be a little tricky. Just look at the furor around California's new water restrictions. If a state as wealthy as California is having to get creative in order to start saving water, you can bet that governments and municipalities with less money and clout are having to turn to even more inventive methods to get clean water without breaking the bank.
El elevado precio de las instalaciones fotovoltaicas ha frenado las ambiciones verdes de muchos, pero los fabricantes de paneles solares están trabajando para acabar con este problema.
Los avances tecnológicos nos acercan cada vez más a un mundo alimentado por renovables. Eso sí, éstas siempre han tenido un caballo de batalla: la energía solar. Los paneles fotovoltaicos, aunque eficientes, tienen un precio muy elevado lo ha hecho que se opte por otras fuentes más rentables aunque más contaminantes, como el gas natural o el carbón.
Pero en lo que va de 2015 la tecnología ha avanzado tanto en este campo que la energía solar ha empezado a equipararse con otras más asequibles.
A new method for making hydrogen directly from plants could be an inexpensive way to generate fuel for alternative vehicles, perhaps paving the way for hydrogen refueling stations that rely on agricultural waste.
The catastrophic disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima are among the worst humankind has had to deal with. Both were the result of the inability of scientists and engineers to foresee how seemingly small problems can snowball into disasters of almost unimaginable scale.
Given that most countries with nuclear power intend to keep their reactors running and that many new reactors are planned, an important goal is to better understand the nature of risk in the nuclear industry. What, for example, is the likelihood of another Chernobyl in the next few years?
Le Centre de compétence eau de Berlin a développé le concept CARISMO : une station d'épuration synthétisant du biogaz utilisé sur place pour produire de l'électricité, tout en diminuant le nombre d'étapes mécaniques nécessaires à la filtration de l'eau.
Some people tend to think of smart meters, solar panels, and energy audits in the same way they think about home improvements. But the owners of commercial property such as office buildings, shopping centers, and warehouses are taking a growing interest in renewable technology as a way to cut their electric bills.
Foundations for an energy storage plant in Ireland that could “revolutionise” the integration of renewable power into electricity supplies will be laid within weeks.
The plant will use a motor-generated flywheel to harness kinetic energy from the grid at times of over-supply. This will then be released from submerged turbines at times of supply shortfalls.
The project in Rhode, County Offaly, is expected to launch commercially in 2017, with an operating capacity of 20MW.
