A UK report says that nearly half of the electricity consumed by British businesses is wasted when employees are not at work.

In an analysis of more than 6,000 smart meters, British Gas found that 46 percent of electricity use occurs from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., when most businesses are typically closed. Common examples of (more…)

More than 9,600 megawatts of wind power capacity was installed in European Union member states in 2011, accounting for about 21 percent of all new power capacity installations, according to an industry report.

New offshore wind farms in the UK and land-based projects in Sweden and Germany pushed EU (more…)

A new record has been set by the high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar module industry. A module made by Semprius, a company in which Siemens invested as a strategic partner in June 2011, reached 33.9 percent, breaking the previous record of 32 per cent. The module was tested by the Instituto de Energía Solar at the Universidad (more…)

Ecotricity, a British alternative energy provider, announced on its website that it is financing a new technology called Searaser. The company says the new technology tackles two of the main obstacles faced by the renewable energy industry: cost and intermittency.

The Searaser was invented by Alvin Smith, an (more…)

The European Environment Agency published a report on the cost and toll of air pollution due to industrial facilities to the European Union last November.

The costs are staggering as the 10,000 facilities induced up to 102 and 169 billion euros in 2009 alone. (more…)

Some sectors and businesses have been more resilient than others to the economic crisis. But has the recession actually been a driver of growth for any? Apparently so – and they’re fast gaining investor attention, emerging as the ultimate recession-busting cleantech investment. (more…)

Wind power in the UK has reached the 6GW threshold. The landmark figure was reached by the Ormonde offshore wind farm, off the coast of Cumbria and with 120 megawatts (MW) operational, which is enough to power more than 67,000 homes.

“There’s a great feeling of pride throughout the (more…)

GCB Bioenergy journal has published a study in which scientists present the findings of a study on switchgrass as cellulosic ethanol feedstock. They concluded that using switchgrass bioenergy can help reduce emissions but add that further research “to address the significant sources of uncertainty” (such as what type of land is converted to switchgrass), is (more…)

A series of recent policy-related developments within the biofuels industry may have set the stage for what could prove to be a significant shift in biofuel geopolitics over the next decade.

To recap: the European Court of Justice (ECJ) affirmed an earlier ruling that held the imposition of (more…)

WindFlip AS is a Norwegian company that has developed WindFlip, a novel approach to transporting pre-assembled wind turbines to offshore locations.

The approach is described in International Application Publication No. WO 2011/051804, (more…)