The Netherlands: Solar park taking shape along 40 km of road in the Netherlands – by Emiliano Bellini

The Dutch water management agency plans to install solar panels along both sides of the A37 highway in Drenthe province, as well as on the median strip, to cover 300 hectares in total. The project is part of a plan to build projects on state land, as the domestic PV industry continues to search for alternative surfaces on which to deploy solar.

The agency is now holding meetings with the Drenthe provincial government and the municipalities of Coevorden, Emmen, and Hoogeveen – as well as network operator Enexis Groep and distribution system operator Rendo – to discuss how the solar park will be developed.

The project, which is part of a government program to build renewable energy pilot projects on state land, will involve the installation of PV modules along either side of a 40-kilometer (25 miles) stretch of the highway, in addition to solar panels on the median strip between the two lanes. The project will span roughly 300 hectares in total, and will be built without having a strong visual impact on the surrounding landscape, Rijkswaterstaat explained. The agency conducted a preliminary spatial exploration study for the project in 2016.

Read more: Solar park taking shape along 40 km of road in the Netherlands – pv magazine International

EU Renewable Energy: The Netherlands still trailing behind on EU renewable energy targets

The Netherlands is trailing the rest of Europe when it comes to reaching sustainable energy targets, according to new figures from the European statistics agency Eurostat.

In 2017, just 6.6% of the energy used in the Netherlands came from sustainable sources, but the target is 14% by 2020, Eurostat says. Luxembourg, where 6.4% of energy consumption derived from biofuels, hydro or wind power, solar or geothermal energy in 2017, has a 2020 target of 11%.

The Eurostat statistics show 11 EU countries had already reached their targets two years ago. In Sweden, for example, more than half the energy is sustainable.

The EU as a whole aims to make sure 20% of gross final energy consumption comes from renewable sources by 2020

Read more at: The Netherlands still trailing behind on EU renewable energy targets - DutchNews.nl

USA: Landmark California bill for 100% clean energy unexpectedly put on hold until next year - by Sammy Roth

California lawmakers will go home for the year without voting on a landmark renewable energy bill, in an unexpected setback for the state’s efforts to lead the world in fighting climate change.

The bill would have required California to get 60 percent of its electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030, up from the current legal mandate of 50 percent. It also would have tasked state regulators with charting a path to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045, which could have included energy sources not considered “renewable,” like nuclear power, large hydropower plants and gas-fired power plants that capture their carbon emissions.

State senators approved the legislation by a 25-13 margin in May, and for months its eventual passage in the Assembly looked like a foregone conclusion. But the bill got held up after unexpectedly strong opposition from investor-owned utilities like Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, which argued it did not adequately protect their customers from potential increases in electricity costs. Unions also worked to kill the bill in the final week of session, after legislative leaders wouldn’t include provisions sought by organized labor.

Assembly member Chris Holden, a Pasadena Democrat who chairs the Assembly’s utilities and energy committee, said earlier this week he wouldn’t move the bill out of his committee because it didn’t have enough support to pass the chamber. He held to that stance as the legislative session came to a close Friday night, even as climate advocates urged him to advance the bill.

The bill’s failure was a major defeat for Gov. Jerry Brown and powerful Senate leader Kevin de León, a Los Angeles Democrat who wrote the legislation. It was also disheartening for climate and clean energy advocates, who have touted California as a global leader in the fight against climate change — an especially important role now that the Trump administration has backed out of the Paris climate agreement and is working to undo many Obama-era climate initiatives.

Read more: Kevin De Leon's SB 100 renewable energy bill on hold until next year

EU Policy Renewable Energy: opening markets for corporate renewable energy buyers

RE100 is a global collaborative initiative bringing together 102 influential and multinational businesses that are committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity globally. Together, they represent demand for over 146 terawatt hours of renewable electricity annually – about enough to power Poland.

These companies have made this highest-level commitment because they know that renewable electricity makes long-term business sense. The technology is ready, unsubsidized costs are competitive, and companies are ready to invest at scale.

Corporate sourcing of renewables represents a major new flow of capital and finance into Europe’s renewable electricity infrastructure. Much of the electricity used by our members in Europe is already from renewable sources, and they are leading the way through a combination of power purchase agreements (PPAs), on-site generation, green contracts and certificates.

IKEA Group, a founding member of RE100, owns more wind turbines than stores and is aiming to produce as much energy as it consumes by the end of the decade. The company has also invested an impressive $1.78 billion (€1.5 billion) in purchasing its own wind and solar power generation equipment since 2009 and in FY15 committed a further $715 billion (€600 million).

Last year, Mars, Inc. signed a PPA for a wind farm in Scotland to power its entire UK operations. Meanwhile, RE100 members Royal DSM, Google, Royal Philips and AkzoNobel joined forces to sign an exciting joint PPA for 350 gigawatt hours per year in the Netherlands.

RE100’s 102 members are:

AB InBev	Equinix	Philips Lighting
Adobe	Facebook	Procter & Gamble
AkzoNobel	Formula-E	Proximus
Alstria	Gatwick Airport	Rackspace
Amalgamated Bank	General Motors	RELX Group
Apple	Givaudan	Ricoh
AstraZeneca	Goldman Sachs	Royal Philips
Autodesk	Google	Salesforce
Aviva	H&M	SAP
AXA	Heathrow Airport	SAVE S.p.A. Group
Bank of America	Helvetia	SGS
Bankia	HP Enterprise	Sky
Biogen	HP Inc.	Starbucks
Bloomberg	IFF	Steelcase
BMW Group	IHS Markit	Swiss Post
British Land	IKEA	Swiss Re
Broad Group	Infosys	Tata Motors
BT Group	ING	TD Bank
Burberry	Interface	Telefonica
Caixa Bank	J&J	Tesco
Carlsberg	J. Safra Sarasin AG	Tetra Pak
Coca-Cola European Partners	Kingspan	UBS
Colruyt Group	KPN	Unilever
Commerzbank AG	La Poste	Vail Resorts
Corbion	Landsec	Vaisala
Credit Agricole	LEGO	VF Corporation
Dalmia Bharat Cement	L’Occitane	VMWare
Danske Bank	Marks & Spencer	Voya Financial
Dentsu Aegis Network	Mars	Walmart
Diageo	Microsoft	Wells Fargo
DNB	Nestlé	Workday
DSM	Nike	YOOX
Ebay	Nordea
Elion	Novonordisk
Elopak	Pearson

For additional info – or to join the campaign – contact:

info@re100.org

Read more: EU policy: opening markets for corporate renewable energy buyers | The Climate Gr

Renewable energy at a ‘tipping point’

Should the world promote economic growth or fight climate change? That model of “either/or” thinking may be losing its validity faster than even some experts have imagined.

The move to renewables is picking up momentum around the world: They now account

While fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – still generate roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it’s clearer than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar for more than half of new power sources going on line.

Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the plummeting prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines by close to one-third in the past eight years, reports the International Renewable Energy Agency.

In many parts of the world renewable energy is already a principal energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes.

While the rest of the world takes the lead, notably China and Europe, the United States is also seeing a remarkable shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.

President Trump has underlined fossil fuels – especially coal – as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, a state he won easily in 2016, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source.

But that message did not play well with many in the Hawkeye State, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation – and where tech giants such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.

Prominent Republican politicians in Iowa are backing the growing industry. The state’s senior senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, has pledged his strong commitment to wind power, as has the new GOP governor,

Kim Reynolds. Other red states in the heartland, such as Kansas, the Dakotas, and Texas, are experiencing a wind-powered boom as well.

"Read more: Renewable energy at a ‘tipping point’ - CSMonitor.

UN Clean Power Report: Clean power is up, costs are down and Europe leads - by Roger Harrabin

EU Solar Power:  Netherlands - Almere - Local Solar Power Station

The world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016, according to the UN.

But the bill was almost a quarter lower than the previous year, thanks to the plunging cost of renewables.

Investment in renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuels, says the report from UN Environment.

It follows news that the cost of offshore wind power has fallen by around a third since 2012 – far faster than expected.

But the report’s authors sound the alarm that just as costs are plunging, some major nations are scaling back their green energy investments.

This, they say, reduces the likelihood of meeting the Paris climate agreement.

The paper is published in conjunction with Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Ulf Moslener, a co-author, told BBC News: “Things are heading the right way, and the learning and technical costs of renewables have done a large part of their job. But investments are not yet there to meet the structural change agreed in Paris."

The world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016, according to the UN.

But the bill was almost a quarter lower than the previous year, thanks to the plunging cost of renewables.

Investment in renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuels, says the report from UN Environment.

It follows news that the cost of offshore wind power has fallen by around a third since 2012 – far faster than expected.

But the report’s authors sound the alarm that just as costs are plunging, some major nations are scaling back their green energy investments.

This, they say, reduces the likelihood of meeting the Paris climate agreement.

The paper is published in conjunction with Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Ulf Moslener, a co-author, told BBC News: “Things are heading the right way, and the learning and technical costs of renewables have done a large part of their job. But investments are not yet there to meet the structural change agreed in Paris."

The report finds that wind, solar and other renewables added 138.5 gigawatts to global power capacity in 2016 - up 8% from 2015. The added capacity roughly equals that of the world's 16 largest existing power producing facilities combined, it says.

Recent figures from the International Energy Agency cited the switch to renewables as one main reason for greenhouse gas emissions staying flat in 2016 even though the global economy grew by 3.1 per cent.

Europe led the way on renewables investment with a 3% increase. The UK spent $24bn and Germany $13.2bn. India kick-started a huge investment in solar with what’s said to be the world’s biggest solar farm.

But globally new investment in solar and wind fell from 2015. Much of the finance drop was due to reduced costs, but countries are also needing less electricity than projected as economies switch towards services, use more LEDs and governments impose standards making appliances like fridges and air-conditioners more efficient.

Some nations are also taking the opportunity to scale back ambition on energy investment.

But Michael Liebreich from BNEF said the key argument over costs had been won: "The question always used to be 'will renewables ever be grid competitive?'.

"Well, after the dramatic cost reductions of the past few years, unsubsidised wind and solar can provide the lowest cost new electrical power in an increasing number of countries, even in the developing world - sometimes by a factor of two."

And Ulf Moslener added a message directed at President Trump: “These technologies are there because they are competitive. We see wind - and in some cases solar – are the cheapest alternatives. Subsidies play less of a role. That’s where the markets are going, and it’s probably a bad idea to work against markets.”

There was a more muted reaction from Dr John Constable of the anti-green group GWPF, whose campaign against wind subsidies has arguably put downward pressure on renewables costs.

He told BBC News: "Faced with a barrage of criticism about subsidy levels, the offshore wind industry has reacted with claims of major cost reductions." But he said the cost of wind power could be deceptive, as it didn't include the cost of supplying the cables to tie turbines into the national grid.

Note EU-Digest : hopefully the US Trump Administration will also take note of this report. 

Read more: UN report: Clean power is up, costs are down - BBC News

US Economy:Renewable Energy Industry Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US

The solar and wind industries are each creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster than that of the rest of the U.S. economy, according to a new report.

The study, published by the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) Climate Corps program, says that solar and wind jobs have grown at rates of about 20% annually in recent years, and sustainability now collectively represents four to four and a half million jobs in the U.S., up from 3.4 million in 2011.

The renewable energy sector has seen rapid growth over recent years, driven largely by significant reductions in manufacturing and installation costs. Building developers and owners have been fueled by state and local building efficiency policies and incentives, the report explains.

But, these gains are in contrast to Trump's support for fossil fuel production, his climate change denial and his belief that renewable energy is a "bad investment".

"Trump's current approach is basically ignoring an entire industry that has grown up over the last 10 years or so and is quite robust," Liz Delaney, program director at EDF Climate Corps, told Business Insider.

Note EU-Digest President Trump, however, who does not believe in scientifically proven evidence that Carbon Dioxide Emissions caused by fossil fuels and a variety of other factors are the main cause for global warming, has today signed several sweeping executive orders taking aim at a number of his predecessor's climate policies,  Thereby turning back the clock of American advantages in the alternative energy sector for many years. It will also jeopardize America's current role in international efforts to confront climate change.

Renewable Energy Industry:  Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US | Fortune.com

Renewable Energy: Europe is burning US forests for “renewable” energy. Wait, what? - by Ben Adler

If you’re driving through the South and you see a denuded field filled with stubby new plantings where lush forest once stood, the blame might lie with an unlikely culprit: the European Union and its well-intentioned clean energy rules.

In March 2007, the E.U. adopted climate and energy goals for 2010 to 2020. The 27 member countries set a goal of reducing carbon emissions 20 percent by 2020 and increasing renewables to 20 percent of their energy portfolio. Unfortunately, they underestimated the carbon intensity of burning wood (a.k.a. “biomass”) for electricity, and they categorized wood as a renewable fuel.

The result: E.U. countries with smaller renewable sectors turned to wood to replace coal. Governments provided incentives for energy utilities to make that switch. Now, with a bunch of new European wood-burning power plants having come online, Europeans need wood to feed the beast. But most European countries don’t have a lot of available forest left to cut down. So they’re importing our forests, especially from the South.


Of course, wood is in some sense renewable: Trees can be regrown. But in other ways it’s more like fossil fuels than it is like solar and wind. After all, the whole obsession with renewables isn’t just because we fear running out of fossil fuels. It’s because burning fossil fuels produces CO2 that causes global warming. The same is true of burning wood, unlike wind or solar.

Wood accounts for a majority of renewable energy generation in Poland and Finland, and nearly 40 percent in Germany. It is especially appealing to British energy utilities, because the British government offers generous subsidies for renewable energy and its solar industry is not nearly as advanced as Germany’s.
Drax, a major British utility, announced last year that they will convert three coal-burning plants to wood. This transition will bring the company up to 550 million British pounds per year ($912 million) in government subsidies for renewables.

The Economist calls this policy “environmental lunacy,” observing dryly: “After years in which European governments have boasted about their high-tech, low-carbon energy revolution, the main beneficiary seems to be the favored fuel of pre-industrial societies.”

Read more: Europe is burning our forests for “renewable” energy. Wait, what? | Grist

Germany's industrial base at risk if green energy shift fails - by Madeline Chambers and Vera Eckert

Germany risks undermining its industrial base if it fails to undertake radical reform of incentives for the country's renewable energy sector, its new economy minister said on Tuesday in a clear signal of his support for industry.

German firms had to stay competitive, Sigmar Gabriel said a day before he outlines planned changes to a renewable energy law to Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, which sources say will involve deep cuts in green energy support.

Export-oriented German companies have warned that a surge in power costs, caused largely by the green power incentives, will make them internationally uncompetitive and some have even threatened to move out.

"We have reached the limit of what we can ask of our economy," Gabriel said. "The energy transformation has the potential to be an economic success, but it can also cause a dramatic de-industrialization of our country", said Social Democrat Gabriel, in his first major speech as economy minister. He also also made clear he would defend German interests against interference from the European Union which is investigating some aspects of the renewable law.

Read more: Germany's industrial base at risk if green energy shift fails | GlobalPost

The Netherlands-Renewable Energy: Firms Trying to Cut Cost of Building Offshore Wind Farms

Offshore Wind-Park

A Dutch research institute, Deltares, announced it has begun initial scale model tests to study the impact of steep, breaking waves on offshore wind turbines. Believing wind turbines at sea could be much cheaper, reducing material costs by 10 percent, Deltares and the other members of the Joint Industry Project "Wave Impact on Fixed Turbine" (JIP WiFi) are joining forces to conduct research that tests this hypothesis.

The design rules currently used to determine the impact of breaking waves on the turbines are very conservative, according to Deltares. The objective of the JIP WiFi is to improve the way effects of steep, breaking waves and more moderate seas are taken into account in the design methodology of fixed offshore wind turbines.

Considerable research already has been done in this area, "but further insight is required to take this effect better into account in future wind farms," the company's announcement stated, adding that results will be available to participants in 2014.

The other project partners are Ramboll, a Danish engineering, design, and consultancy company; MARIN and ECN, Dutch research institutes; Statkraft, based in Norway and Europe's leading renewable energy provider; and classification companies GL and DNV.

Read more: Firms Trying to Cut Cost of Building Offshore Wind Farms -- Occupational Health & Safety

Sweden - Renewable Energy: Ikea wants all its stores using only renewable energy by 2020 - Invests euro3 billion

Bloomberg News Group, reports that IKEA the world's biggest furniture retailer, will double its investment in renewable energy to euro 3 billion ( US 4 billion)  by 2020 as part of a drive to reduce costs as cash-strapped consumers become more price sensitive.

The additional spending on projects such as wind farms and solar parks will be needed to keep expenses down as the company maintains its pace of expansion, Chief Executive Mikael Ohlsson said in an interview in Malmo, Sweden.

"I foresee we'll continue to increase our investments in renewable energy," said Ohlsson, who plans to step down this year after 3 1/2 years at the helm. "Looking at how quickly we're expanding and our value chain, we will most likely have to double the investments once more after 2015."

Ikea plans to get 100% of the energy consumed at its stores and by subcontractors from renewable sources by 2020. The Swedish company owns 250,000 solar panels, mainly in the U.S., and invested in 126 wind turbines in northern Europe to cover 34% of its energy consumption.

Ohlsson said the retailer will have opportunities for "strong growth" in Europe for "many years to come" because many customers still do not have an Ikea store near them.

EU-Digest

Renewable Energy EU : 23 innovative renewable energy demonstration projects receive €1.2 billion EU funding

T he European Commission today awarded over €1.2 billion to 23 highly innovative renewable energy demonstration projects under the first call for proposals for the so-called NER300 funding program.

The projects will be co-financed with revenues obtained from the sale of 200 million emission allowances from the new entrants' reserve (NER) of the EU Emissions Trading System.

The projects cover a wide range of renewable technologies, from bioenergy (including advanced biofuels), concentrated solar power and geothermal power, to wind power, ocean energy and distributed renewable management (smart grids).

Collectively they will increase annual renewable energy production in Europe by some 10 TWh, the equivalent of the annual fuel consumption of more than a million passenger cars. More importantly, the aim is to successfully demonstrate technologies that will help substantially scale-up energy production from renewable sources across the EU.

EU-Digest

Renewable-Energy Projects Get 1.2 Billion Euros in EU Aid - by Ewa Krukowska

The European Union granted 1.2 billion euros ($1.58 billion) in subsidies to 23 renewable- energy projects under a program to promote low-carbon technology as a part of the fight against global warming.

The aid for the projects located in 16 EU countries including France, Germany, Greece, Poland and the U.K. comes from the sale of allowances to emit carbon dioxide set aside in a special reserve under Europe’s cap-and-trade program, known as NER300. Today’s announcement covers proceeds from the first tranche of 200 million allowances sold this year and last year.

The projects, ranging from biofuels to solar and wind power, will boost annual renewable energy output in Europe by about 10 terrawatt-hours, an amount equivalent to the yearly fuel consumption of more than a million passenger cars, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, said in a statement. The aim is to demonstrate technologies that will help scale up clean energy production in the region.

“The NER300 program is in effect a ’Robin Hood’ mechanism that makes polluters pay for large-scale demonstration of new low-carbon technologies,” EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in a statement. “The 1.2 billion euros of grants - paid by the polluters - will leverage a further 2 billion euros of private investment.”

Read more: Renewable-Energy Projects Get 1.2 Billion Euros in EU Aid - Bloomberg

Europe Could Be 100% Renewable by 2050, If It Gets Its Act Together - by Martin Abbeglen

It's not just top European scientists who believe a 100% renewable future is possible. Paul Hockenos of Renewable Energy World posts on a new report from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which claims that Europe could be 100% renewable by 2050.

Possible should not be confused with easy, however. Among the report's findings, writes Hockenos, is an observation that Europe is in desperate need of a more coherent, consistent approach to energy policy. Much like the need for greater fiscal unity to avert a Eurozone meltdown, the complex mix of targets, subsidies and priorities represented by each member nation represents a major obstacle to progress:

Since grid construction needs as long as ten years to be realized, potential grid investors would need an unshakable commitment to renewable energies to invest in such a costly project. The report underscores a number of measures to get the ball on an all-European system rolling, including a "review" of the EU treaty that stipulates that the national states have full authority to determine their own energy supplies as they wish. Ultimately there must be a guarantee that nationally minded states don't obstruct plans for an European grid system.

As for Europe's current energy markets, they too tend to reflect national priorities and a fossil fuel-dominated system that the EU is supposedly committed to phasing out. The report argues that "open and hidden" subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear must be abolished in order to even the playing field between renewable and conventional energies.

Read Europe Could Be 100% Renewable by 2050, If It Gets Its Act Together : TreeHugger

Renewable Energy - to push US past Saudi Arabia, will benefit economy - by Laurent Belsie

The United States is in the midst of an energy boom that at the end of the decade will make it the world's top oil producer, temporarily displacing Saudi Arabia, and a net exporter of natural gas, according to a new report.

By 2030, America will be nearly energy self-sufficient on net and North America as a whole will become a net oil exporter, says the report released Monday by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based research and advocacy group for oil-importing developed nations.

Governments could step in and encourage that switch toward renewables. Some economists are pushing for a carbon tax in the US that would help make renewables more cost-competitive. The IEA forecasts that a concerted global effort on energy efficiency could cut the growth in global energy demand in half through 2035 and cause oil demand to peak before 2020 and then fall substantially.

Global output would rise a cumulative $18 trillion, with India, China, the US, and Europe reaping the biggest gains.

Read more: Energy boom will push US past Saudi Arabia, benefit economy - CSMonitor.com

A Revolution for Renewables: Germany Approves End to the Nuclear Era

Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag, passed a historic package of laws Thursday that commits the nation -- once and for all -- to a phase-out of nuclear power by 2022. The step is unprecedented in Europe, and it marks the final act in a decades-long political drama that began with a grassroots anti-nuclear movement in the 1970s, which gave rise to the German Green Party.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has led the charge against nuclear power only since March, but the Bundestag this morning voted overwhelmingly to close Germany's remaining nine active plants according to a fixed, 11-year schedule. The vote was 513:79, with eight abstentions. Many of the "no" votes came from the Left Party, which argued for a swifter timeline.

The world's fourth-largest industrial nation is scheduled to be nuclear-free by 2022, but will its reliance on fossil fuels increase?

For more: A Revolution for Renewables: Germany Approves End to the Nuclear Era - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Renewable Energy: EU May Exceed Target of 20 Percent Renewable Energy by 2020 - by Susan Cramer

Finland, which already gets 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources, has a new 2020 target to make that 38 percent. Sweden, which already gets 42 percent, now has a target of 50 percent by 2020.



National Renewable Energy Action Plans published at Renewable Energy Focus show that averaged across the EU, 34 percent of EU electricity demand could be supplied from renewable sources by 2020, with 14 percent coming from wind alone. Overall, most of the member states are on target to either meet or exceed the original 20 percent by 2020 targets.

For the more advanced countries in the EU, that already get a higher percentage of renewable energy, higher targets for renewable's are now being set. As each goal is being met earlier and easier, higher ones are being set in place.
For more: EU May Exceed Target of 20 Percent Renewable Energy by 2020 | Reuter

EU 'must spend €1 trillion' on electricity grid - by Jennifer Rankin

The European Union must spend €1 trillion by 2020 on upgrading the electricity grid system if it is to meet its climate-change goals, according to a leaked report from the European Commission.

This is the first estimate from the Commission on how much spending on grid and infrastructure is needed if the EU is to stay on track to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

For more: EU 'must spend €1 trillion' on electricity grid | European Voice

Germany: Qatar, Germany sign accord on renewable energy

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani received at his residence in Berlin yesterday German Minister of Economy and Technology Rainer Bruederle and his accompanying delegation. Areas of co-operation between the two countries and ways to enhance them were reviewed during the meeting.

Following the meeting, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Energy and Industry in Qatar and German Ministry of Economy and technology on scientific and technical co-operation in the areas of new and renewable energy.

The two sides also signed the minutes of the second session of the Qatari-German joint Economic Committee, besides a letter of intent to open a German commercial office in Doha.

For more go to : Gulf Times – Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper - Qatar

Renewable Energy World Com: Working With the Wind: Growing Employment in the European and US Wind Power Sectors - Alasdair Cameron

For the complete report from the Renewable Energy World click on this link

Working With the Wind: Growing Employment in the European and US Wind Power Sectors - Alasdair Cameron

A new report published by the European Wind Energy Association looks at the rapidly growing wind sector jobs market, throwing up some interesting trends, and highlighting a number of opportunities and challenges for the future. In these days of economic doom and gloom, ‘green jobs’ has become a familiar refrain among political leaders seeking to articulate a vision for the future. In Europe and North America, environmental technology is being increasingly touted as the next big thing. As one senior British politician recently put it, ‘there has been enough financial engineering, it is time for some real engineering.’ As with so many things in the world of renewable energy, Germany is the leader in wind energy employment, accounting for nearly 38,000 direct jobs, rising to 84,300 if indirect employment is included. In many ways this lead is unsurprising given its long-term position as one of the major wind energy markets, and indeed with more than 23,000 MW of working wind, it remains the country with the second highest installed wind power capacity (having just been overtaken by the US in 2008).