According to the latest report of the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st century (REN21), renewable energies are witnessing an important increase. Indeed global generating capacity of grid-connected solar photovoltaic rose by 52 percent and wind power by 28 percent in 2007, compared to 2006. These renewables are due to have a bright future, […]
The meteoritic rise of renewables Read More »
I continue my series on the various investments realized in renewables as the Worldwatch Institute released a report giving some data on this topic. According to this NGO, global investments in these various energy sources might reach 66 billion USD in 2007, a sharp increase over 2005 and 2006. The State of the World 2008
Worldwide, 66 billion USD invested in renewables Read More »
Investment within Venture Capital in solar photovoltaïc in the United States reached one billion Dollars in 2007. This almost represents a ten-fold increase compared to 2005. Greentech Media proposes for $600 a full report on the importance this energy source has in venture capital (VC) today and will have in 2009. The least I can
A real boom for solar PV in the United States Read More »
When I was writing in October my article on the clean alternatives to coal, I was planning to add at the bottom a page summing up the pros and cons of each solution. I never did so but still found this document interesting as it sums up quite well the situation at hand. Each and
There is no perfect energy generating solution Read More »
According to several sources, including the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, the British government approved the building of new nuclear plants. This occurs as nuclear energy is becoming more and more interesting as it is the second lowest greenhouse gases energy solution behind hydro. This might be for this country the beginning of
UK government approved the building of nuclear plants Read More »
2008 will see many new records for oil prices as already yesterday the price did hit $100 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). This represents both a record price and a psychological barrier as never before did the prices hit these levels. During the two oil shocks, the record was of $90.46.
Oil prices reach 100 USD a barrel Read More »
In my article on the clean alternatives to coal I was mentioning that the first thing to implement before any other was behavioral changes and energy efficiency. Indeed, I believe we need both as they are complementary and very different. Indeed one has a sociological approach when the other refers to pure economics. Energy efficiency
Difference between behavioral change and efficiency Read More »
I have never been a great fan of traditional biofuels (nor the World Bank and the OECD) as their yield is quite small and as they require a lot of by-products (pesticides…). However, some alguae like Ulva lactuca (sea lettuce, pictured left) have a much superior yield than cereals and aren’t as much eaten as
Algae, the best solution to make biofuels Read More »
The IHT proposed on December 9th an interesting article on the future of the oil market which brings even more gloomy prospects. The article strongly reinforces my opinion that we (France, Europe, the entire world…) should work fast on energy efficiency in order to consume less energy. To the journalist, oil-rich countries like Mexico or
Oil producing countries to export less fossil fuels Read More »
Both the Financial Times and the Worldwatch Institute provided me monday with interesting data and news on the Chinese energy market. Good news : the country is willing to get 30% of its electricity via renewables by 2050. Bad news : the growth of energy consumption last year was of 16.2 percent. This wouldn’t be
Two news on Chinese energy for the price of one Read More »
