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15
Apr

Clean energy investment picks up in first quarter after stagnation last year

Clean Energy Pipeline,  “the online financial news and data service dedicated to the clean energy sector”, reports that “new investment in the global clean energy sector totalled $61.0 billion in 1Q14, representing a 14% increase on the $53.4 billion invested in the corresponding period in 2013.” “New clean energy investment was encouraging in 1Q14, marking a welcome change from recent

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15
Apr

The Age of Renewables has begun

A new report by investment analysts from Citigroup says that in the US “the Age of Renewables” has begun. This is confirmed by the most recent public announcements from First Solar and SunPower, two of the largest solar power producers in the US, which both continue to see solar costs coming down rapdily. Analysts from McKinsey have become convinced that

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15
Apr

Shanghai and Beijing launch carbon markets

This week, both Beijing, China’s national capital, and Shanghai its leading financial city, launched pilot emissions trading systems. These pilots will run for two years, until the end of 2015.  They join the city of Shenzhen, on the Hong Kong border, which launched a pilot carbon market in June this year. Guangdong, Hubei, Tianjin and Chongqing are also planning to

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15
Apr

Meet Neware face to face on TheBatteryShow 2014

Taking place September 16-18, Novi, Detroit, Michigan, The Battery Show 2014 is the premier showcase of the latest advanced battery technology. The exhibition hall offers a platform to launch new products, make new contacts and maintain existing relationships. With more qualified buyers and decision makers than any other event in North America, The Battery Show 2014 is the key to

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14
Apr

Time for a New Global Trade Deal

This week, ministers and delegates gather in Bali to try to thrash out a new multilateral trade deal. It seems likely that a deal, if it materializes, has been reduced to addressing trade and customs procedures, rather than the core issues of reducing tariffs and trade barriers. Given this minimalism, it is high time to think about the benefits of

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14
Apr

What if one third of Australians choose to go off-grid?

The Australian national science agency CSIRO has undertaken a study into how the electricity grid in Australia could develop over the coming decades. Giles Parkinson, editor-in-chief of the Australian website RenewEconomy, discusses the four scenarios that SCIRO explores: “leaving-the-grid”, in which one-third of Australian consumers go off-grid; “prosumer” , which is similar but has active utility companies that lead the

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14
Apr

coal unsustainable but here to stay

Tougher Chinese policies aimed at reducing dependency on coal will help restrain global coal demand growth over the next five years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its annual Medium-Term Coal Market Report released today. Despite the slightly slower pace of growth, however, coal will meet more of the increase in global primary energy than oil or gas –

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11
Apr

Experts issue plea for new European energy policy to overcome “crisis of confidence”

On the eve of a crucial Summit of the European Heads of State and government, who will meet in Brussels on 20-21 March to discuss EU climate, energy and industrial policy, a group of prominent energy experts has issued a plea for a “new European energy policy”. The experts, led by Claude Mandil, former Executive Director of the International Energy

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11
Apr

World Energy Outlook hides the real potential of renewables

The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) is seen as the most authoritative set of energy scenarios in the world. Yet when we test the forecasts for the growth of renewable energies in the WEO’s main scenario against reality, we find that the WEO consistently comes out too low. Each year from 2006 on the WEO has had to increase

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11
Apr

Interview Dominique Ristori: EU governance on renewables wont be punitive

The new Director General for energy at the European Commission, Dominique Ristori, faces the difficult task of “selling” EU leaders his proposals on a climate and energy strategy for 2030. Initially foreseen at the European Council on 20 and 21 March, a decision has been postponed to October. In this interview with Energy Post Brussels correspondent Hughes Belin, Ristori outlines

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