Alternative Outlook

“Biofuels stands out as the best option, considering the overall environmental, safety and security impacts.”

Volatile costs for fossil fuels and rising concerns over emissions. “A doubling of present CO2 emissions by 2050 if we do nothing.” A share of “for at least 10% of global emissions in 2050, as compared to 3% today, if measures are not taken.”

Sounds a lot like aviation, right? Well, in this case, it is the marine shipping industry. Shipping giant DNV has identified those risk factors in an update of its landmark (2009) Pat…

Audi is building a plant that will use solar and wind power to make methane from water and carbon dioxide. The plant, which will use technology developed by Stuttgart, Germany-based SolarFuel, is scheduled to start operation later this year. It will produce enough methane to power 1,500 of Audi’s new natural-gas vehicles, which also go on sale this year.

SolarFuel’s process uses excess renewable energy generated as a result of Germany’s push to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. There’s now so much renewable energy in Germany that supp…

Commodity shares are likely to have caught the attention of contrarian investors. Despite positive developments – including gas discoveries in the US, renewed consumption in China and a gold price bounce – many resources-related stocks and funds fared poorly last year.

We explain how to get exposure to gold, mining and energy.

Energy
Pau Morilla-Giner, commodities specialist at asset manager London & Capital, said the main beneficiaries of the shale gas discoveries in the US would be the water and was…

Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings kicked off the new year with a bang this morning announcing it is investing up to $2.5 billion in a pair of photovoltaic projects in the US developed by SunPower Corporation.

In a written statement, MidAmerican said it is buying SunPower’s Antelope Valley projects in California, photovoltaic facilities with a combined generating capacity of 579 MW. The co-located facilities in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in Calif., will provide power to Southern California Edison.

“We are excited a…

Industry hails record investment levels as new figures show 15 per cent of infrastructure spending comes from green energy sector.

Investment in Scotland’s renewable energy industry is at record high levels and green energy companies are now responsible for more than 15 per cent of infrastructure spending in the nation, according to new figures released this week.

Trade association Scottish Renewables revealed last night that investment in renewables is on track to reach £1bn this year for the first time.

Analysis from the Depar…

The government has gone some way to provide investment confidence and certainty in the UK energy market, after publishing its long-awaited energy bill yesterday morning.

Energy secretary Ed Davey outlined the make-up of the bill in the House of Commons, saying that it shows the government is “making good progress towards our vision of a thriving low-carbon economy with secure energy supplies, and sets out an energy policy that is good for growth and good for consumers”.

He also lauded the importance of an energy mix, in which gas…

Despite the on-going euro crisis and diminishing feed-in tariffs, investments in solar energy are booming, particularly in the secondary, or installed photovoltaic market. Milk the Sun’s CEO, Felix Krause, discusses.

As observed by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) in 2012, solar energy currently accounts for 1% of Europe’s total electricity consumption. Assuming the European Union achieves its goal of 20% renewable energy by 2020, this will increase to between 4 and 6%; and, if solar’s full potential is …

One of Europe’s largest wind power engineering firms has promised to open a turbine manufacturing base in Scotland in readiness for a major expansion in North Sea windfarms.

French nuclear and renewables group Areva has signed an outline agreement with the investment agency Scottish Enterprise to site one of three new factories it is opening across Europe in eastern Scotland.

The deal, unveiled during a visit to Paris by the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, is predicted to create up to 750 engineering jobs at the new site and f…

Renewable energy capacity will overtake nuclear power in the UK by 2018, if current rates of growth continue, and will provide enough power for one in 10 British homes by 2015, according to new research.

The amount of electricity supplied by wind energy alone is up by a quarter since 2010, in a surprisingly good year for the renewables industry. While the government has notably cooled on wind power – more than 100 Tory MPs signed a statement this year opposing new windfarms, and the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has …

A clear and consistent majority of people is in favour of increased investment in renewable energy, according to the results of a major new poll that will provide a boost to those ministers currently opposing the chancellor’s plans for a new “dash for gas”.

The YouGov survey of over 1,700 adults commissioned by the Sunday Times reveals 72 per cent of respondents think the UK should be looking to use more solar power, while 55 per cent think it should be trying to use more wind power.

The high levels of support for solar power …