Energy

Start-stop systems are simple, yet brilliant

A great innovation I have seen on French cars recently is called Stop and start. Peugeot Citroen (PSA) started selling this anti-idling technology as early as 2006. The gains in urban driving are no less than ten percent… Indeed, thanks to start-stop systems, the internal combustion engine is automatically shut down while you are stuck […]

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A $370 billion idea for European buildings

Here we go again with a brand new article on Cleantechies. This time, we focus on one of my favorite topics : insulating buildings with a new study on the very matter. Here is the introduction : ” According to a new study presented by the Renovate Europe Campaign, weatherizing European buildings in an important

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EPR costs : a blow to the nuclear renaissance

I have to say that I now have mixed feelings about nuclear. Since I wrote and published my 10 reasons to support nuclear – by far my most popular post on this blog – the catastrophe at Fukushima took place. Now the main French utility – Electricité de France, aka EDF – announced that its

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IEA World Energy Outlook 2012

It’s an habit, the prestigious International Energy Agency releases each November its famous flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook. Let’s review here the main findings and reactions. To the IEA , an important effort will have to be done as ” No more than one-third of proven reserves of fossil fuels can be consumed prior

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Morocco wants 42 percent renewables by 2020

If you think that solar energy is just fad dedicated to rich nations, read on : Morocco  has a ” goal of increasing installed renewable energy capacity to 42 per cent by 2020 and becoming a renewable energy industry leader. “ The African Development Bank Group has been demonstrating its support to scaling up renewable

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What Obama’s re-election means for climate

Barack Obama’s re-election this week occurred shortly after the Hurricane Sandy that killed dozens people and inflicted for billion of dollars of damages to the US economy. The past year has been the hottest ever for the United States. On a positive note, President Obama have introduced various bills and laws to help America become

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Saudi Arabia to go 100 percent low carbon

I already had mentioned very ambitious plans from Saudi Arabia to jump-start a solar revolution. So the following news aren’t totally surprising me. As The Guardian reported : ” Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, has plans to become 100% powered by renewable and low-carbon forms of energy, according to an influential member of

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V3Solar`s Spin Cell : 20 times the efficiency of flat solar panels?

This is a guest post from Mathias Aarre Maehlum, an environmentalist who studies energy engineering. In his spare time he works as a freelance writer. Read more of his stuff at Energy Informative. V3Solar ( a USA company with its Head Office in Los Angeles, California and its R & D laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. ) is taking a

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Can Japan, and the world, ever be nuclear free ?

This is the question many are asking themselves as the Japanese government initially wanted to go nuclear free by 2040 but finally removed the specific deadline as the New York Times reported. Nuclear plants can last decades provided they are operated and maintained carefully. Nuclear accounts for 18 percent of the electricity mix of the

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Two important milestones for wind energy

In September, two important milestones were set for wind energy as installed capacities reached a 100 gigawatts and 50 gigawatts in the European Union and the United States of America, respectively. The 100 GW of wind turbines are producing as much electricity as 62 coal-fired plants or 39 nuclear reactors or 52 natural gas generators

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