Energy

An offshore wind energy boom in Europe

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) published its annual report and the results are encouraging as the offshore wind energy capacity grew by 54 percent in 2009 with 577 MW. The United Kingdom appears to be leading the sector as it installed more than half of the added capacity of the European Union. And this […]

An offshore wind energy boom in Europe Read More »

A massive wind energy plan for UK

The United Kingdom has a most ambitious climate change mitigation plan as it is willing to cuts its emissions by 34 percent by 2020. This is further than the European Union which is willing to go as far as 30 percent. This week, Gordon Brown is due to unveil a £100 billion (110 billion euros

A massive wind energy plan for UK Read More »

Oil prices went up by 78 percent in 2009

During the financial crisis in late 2008, oil prices went down from $147 to $33 in just a few months. However, oil prices soon went up as they increased by 78 percent last year. This is the largest yearly increase in a decade. There are more and more concerns that either peak oil already occurred or

Oil prices went up by 78 percent in 2009 Read More »

Keeping natural gas in pipelines, not air

This was the title of an article on Dot Earth, as I read the associated New York Times article in Le Figaro as this newspaper now proposes a selection of the best articles from the NYT. The article is about how natural gas – and methane – is leaking through the miles and miles of

Keeping natural gas in pipelines, not air Read More »

World Bank funds solar projects in North Africa

The World Bank via its Clean Technology Fund is investing $750 million (522 million euros) in eleven concentrating solar plants in the Middle East and North Africa region. This is due to spur additional investments worth $4.85 billion. These projects are due to add nearly a gigawatt of capacity to local grids within three to

World Bank funds solar projects in North Africa Read More »

Extreme oil anyone ?

While some magazines print sensationalist articles, some other prefer to carry out real research with real facts and figures. New Scientist indeed published an interesting article on what they call extreme – or unconventional – oil. Understanding that peak oil is either near or already arrived we can either burn as much unconventional oil as

Extreme oil anyone ? Read More »

Spain to add 8.8 GW of green electricity by 2012

According to Reuters Spain will add up to 8.8 GW of renewable energies by 2012. As GreenUnivers [Fr] points out this would increase by 37 percent the current renewable electricity capacity in just three years. This occurs as now wind energy has more installed capacity than nuclear in Spain and even supplied the country more

Spain to add 8.8 GW of green electricity by 2012 Read More »

Old nuclear weapons generate electricity

According to the New York Times around 10 percent of the US electricity is provided by old nuclear bombs, including Russian ones. I find very inspiring that weapons once targeting houses are now powering them. These agreements concern thousands of warheads and are part of a non proliferation policy enacted by both countries. With up

Old nuclear weapons generate electricity Read More »

An overview of future fusion nuclear technologies

For the fourth and last part of my nuclear series and after reviewing 10 reasons to support nuclear, the past and present of this energy source and a review of the main fission future solutions we are finishing with fusion. Contrary to future fission solutions, fusion won’t happen before mid-century as it is the exact

An overview of future fusion nuclear technologies Read More »

Think nuclear is dangerous ? Have a look at coal

It is a well known fact, coal-fired plants are by far the most carbon dioxide intensive energy source. Now according to an article on Celsias coal ash is also much more radioactive than nuclear waste. The massive coal sludge accident in Tennessee last year showed that coal-fired plants can massively destroy ecosystems. This adds up

Think nuclear is dangerous ? Have a look at coal Read More »