Countries that have taken steps toward development or that are developing have certain characteristics that differentiate them from other countries.  What does Turkey possess in order to make the necessary attempt for development in the 21st century?  Turkey is a country of textiles, but this is not sufficient to give it special status in the [...]

If anyone were in doubt that new sources of private sector capital will be required to finance the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy, last week’s Budget surely made it clear. Since the beginning of the year, the Green Investment Bank Commission, an independent and non-partisan group of experts from finance, business and policy, has [...]

In 2009, GE Energy, the Assembly of European Regions (AER), and Franche-Comté region decided to create the “Energy Valley”. Following the example of the Silicon Valley in California, it aims at gathering main actors of energy in order to share skills and increase knowledge. The creation of the Energy Valley was announced in November 2009, [...]

The price of imported goods in Germany has increased drastically in May. According to a report by German Manager Magazin, the high oil price is to blame for an average price increase of 8.5 percent. It is the highest increase since the previous record month, which was November 2000. Prices for fossil energy have increased [...]

On July 28, six European regions met in Brussels to discuss Carbon Capture and Storage, a cleaner power generation concept that aims to significantly reduce the CO2 emissions form burning coal by separating, liquefying and storing the climate gas underground. Participating regions were: Brandenburg (Germany), Castilla y León (Spain), Lodz (Poland), Yorkshire (Great Britain), Veneto [...]

Dünya newspaper, 16-06-2010:  Could you explain the mission of AER? Klaus Klipp, AER Secretary General:  The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is the independent network of regions in wider Europe. Regions are the second level of governance in a country, in Turkey these are Special Provincial Administrations (İl Özel İdareleri).  More than 270 regions from 33 countries work together in [...]

As reported by an article in La Repubblica  around 87% of Italians support the use of wind energy and they think it can play a positive role in economic development and employment. Only in the first half of 2010 wind market reached 25,530 employees with a growth of 4.5 percent despite the crisis.  Moreover, 60% of [...]

The draft National Renewable Energy Plan of the Ministry of Industry plans to maintain the goal of renewables providing 22.7% of final energy consumption in 2020. To do this, it will be necessary to produce less solar energy and offshore wind than what was planned in the energy mix that was designed in April. Spain [...]

N-tv, a German news channel, reports that the presentation of the new German energy concept will be postponed to after the summer. The energy concept is highly anticipated, as it will address the controversial issue of whether the individual federal states will have to agree to an extension of nuclear power plant lifecycles or whether [...]

The Committee on Climate Change has urged the government that UK gas-fired power stations should be fitted with CCS / carbon capture and storage technology – in what would be a reversal of official policy. The committee, set up to advise the government on how to meet its statutory obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, [...]