The Minister of Economy, Alberto Larraz, said today that the Government of Aragon “does not rule out the need to use coal as a primary source of energy for the future without “neglecting” to work on a plan of re-industrialization of mining areas. This was stated by the policy maker, at a press conference in [...]

Alongside the new energy statement, the DECC also announced a prospectus outlining how to meet the previous government’s goal of 100% smart metering across the UK by 2020 and announced that it would review Ofgem’s role as regulator of Britain’s energy markets.Furthermore, it published a report outlining ways in which to meet the goal of [...]

German newswire dpa sums up the challenges that Norbert Röttgen, German Federal Minister of the Environment faces:Is it really necessary to abolish the nuclear phase out to extend the lifetime of nuclear power plants? Coal accounts for 42.8 percent of German energy generation, but it is dirty. Many companies invest in Cleaner Coal Technologies (among [...]

The German Biogas Association “Fachverband Biogas e.V.” recently published facts & figures on the German biogas landscape in 2009. According to these figures, there were nearly 5,000 biogas installations (4,984 units), producing 1,893 Megawatts of power. This compares to just 850 installations and 50 Megawatt in 1999. Unsurprisingly, the most prominent German states in terms [...]

Experts believe more interconnections are required by the increasingly important role of electricity in the economy     Sparks in the economy, not only because of the crisis. Electricity will play an increasingly larger role in the future of energy. In 2050, 60% of Europe’s energy needs will be met by electricity. In Spain, electricity demand [...]

Spain has presented these days its national renewable energy plan (PANER) to the European Commission in response to the order resulting from the Directive 2009/26/CE on the promotion of energy from renewable sources. In that document, our country has set itself the target of 22.7% of total energy consumption in 2020 coming from renewable sources, [...]

Spiegel Online reports that the German solar industry should profit massively from the most recent sunny weather. However, and due to the subsidies paid to support solar power, citizens are facing higher electricity bills. While extreme amounts of strong sun light meant that solar power temporarily accounted for nearly ten percent of Germany’s power supply [...]

Nuclear phase out in Germany: Waiting for a legal framework The German government is still struggling to find a way to revert the nuclear phase out and still support the growth of renewable energies. Recent plans to tax the significant returns that operators of nuclear power plants expect from the extended lifespan of their installations were [...]

Wind power will take the lead from other renewable energy resources in Europe by 2020, according a new report from ENDS Europe. Based on the national renewable action plans submitted to the European Commission earlier this summer, installed wind capacity will be greater than both hydropower – the current leading technology – and solar combined [...]

Energy secretary Chris Huhne has announced that the UK and Australia will lead a new global Carbon Capture Use and Storage Action Group, which aims to facilitate political and business leadership in the technology. The group will also develop a Global Strategic Implementation Plan to examine how to overcome “key barriers” to the deployment of [...]