Once complete, this will ensure smooth concrete lining for the next 100 years of the efficient flow – at a rate of 500 cubic meters per second – and uninterrupted water of the Niagara River in the 10.2 km tunnel that leads to the Sir Adam Beck hydro stations.

So, when the Niagara Tunnel (one of the largest renewable energy projects of its kind) will be completed in 2013, it will generate enough renewable electricity to power 160,000 homes.

The project currently employs over 400 people and has already reported in the area of ​​economic benefits which amount to about $1 billion.

Strengthening the infrastructure of Ontario Hydro is an important part of the McGuinty government’s plan aiming to build a modern electricity grid, producing clean, reliable energy needed to power the Ontario infrastructure (homes, schools, hospitals, etc..)

“The Niagara Tunnel Project is an example of how the Province is transforming its power grid and investing in clean energy economy. We build a clean, modern, reliable and affordable system and we will supply for generations,” said Chris Bentley, Canadian Minister of Energy.

“The Niagara Tunnel is an investment in our future because it will bring to Ontario’s clean, renewable energy for more than one hundred years. What is equally impressive is the fact that men and women have worked safely under extremely difficult and challenging conditions. That’s a testimony to the quality and skill of Ontario’s workforce,” said Tom Mitchell, president of Ontario Power Generation.

Two main reasons are that the energy sector and research have their eyes on the algae.

On the one hand their high content of carbohydrates in biomass is an interesting and secondly they do not compete with crops for water or land. Unfortunately, the primary constituent algae carbohydrates, known as alginate, is not directly metabolized by bacteria. This barrier has made the biofuel produced from algae too expensive to compete with petroleum fuels.

Using synthetic biology and engineering of enzymes, Adam Wargacki and his colleagues have modified E. coli so that it produces enzymes that digest the carbohydrate polymers of algae. The bacteria thus created also manufactures membrane proteins that can transport sugars degraded form of mono and oligosaccharides and metabolic pathways that ferment sugars into the ethanol.

If this process can be scaled up, the algae could one day help meet the demand for sustainable fuel.

According to The National Load Dispatch Center (CNDC), renewable energy production in Nicaragua was 51.4% due to wind turbines for wind farms. Emilio Rappaccioli, Minister of Energy and Mines, said recently that one of the things that is helping the clean energy production rates to remain high is the productivity of wind energy, which is benefiting from the impact of the winds of time that register constant speeds.

Rappaccioli, who participated in the International Renewable Energy Fair, which was held in the city of Granada, noted that the official records of CNDC indicating a wind energy production capacity (63 megawatts), which has been combined with hydropower, geothermal and biomass, for a better balance of generation in the country’s energy matrix.

“According to CNDC, renewable energy production was 51.4% recently, and the thermal production of only 48.6%. This was due to wind production reached full capacity for almost 24 hours, encouraging energy supply. Also noteworthy is the production of biomass with the sugar, increased ability to San Jacinto Tizate with 36 megawatts already working in sustainable operationally reliable, “said the official.

Data recorded by the CNDC reflected that renewable plant production reached 229.9 megawatts of thermal power and recorded 270.1 megawatts, with demand in the afternoon of 500 megawatts in total.

The Energy Cabinet met this week to discuss the positives of the situation, which favors the electricity sector.

Rappacccioli said that in some way there is stability in the electricity sector, as production from renewable resources allows a favorable cost of generation, but did not specify that at the moment is to apply a rate reduction to energy, which suffered a increase of 9% this year, combined with the financial outlay of over U.S. $ 26 million as a subsidy to not affect business users with the measure.

Rappaccioli said that at present can not be said that this type of energy is maintained throughout the year, since the supply of wind and biomass plants low in the coming months.

“The wind decreases at some point, the sugar productivity down in June and July. The average renewable generation we have calculated for 2012 is at least 40 to 41% as Central American hydroelectric plants and will enter a maintenance phase this year,” said Carlos Fonseca .

Blue Wind Power will inject extra 40 megawatts

However, the Minister Rappaccioli said the first phase of expansion of San Jacinto Tizate obtained at least 40 to 42 megawatts, producing almost a thousand megawatt hours a day, covering 9% of total generation in the country.

He stressed that they expect by May this year, including the wind farm operations of Blue Power Energy, with 40 megawatts and 36 megawatts, geothermal, the second phase of expansion of San Jacinto Tizate, which will be of great weight in the national energy mix and contribute to more stable energy prices.

Scientists and agency experts predict an increase of one third of energy demand over the next 25 years, forcing nations to make investments to avoid shortages of basic resources and increase dangerous emissions that contribute to global warming.

“The time is running out, but you can still take action. If there is no investment and a global commitment to the environment binding, with the current infrastructure (factories, cars and gasoline-driven public transport), emissions of greenhouse gases that would be allowed through 2035 for the average global temperature does not rise above two degrees and avoid a global tragedy, will be exhausted in 2017,” they said.

For this a little bit cloudy future, and facing an energy crisis that is approaching inevitably, the United Nations (UN) declared 2012 as the year of green energy or sustainable.

It means that the wind, sun and heat that comes from the center of the earth to become the primary sources worldwide.

Today, only 19 percent of world energy is renewable. But according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it should meet 80 percent of global needs by 2050.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said that the development of the renewable energy sector is inevitable, and it should play a role in sustainability.

The idea is that its use can multiply by 20. Here we meet two reasons: take advantage of those resources seem inexhaustible as the sun’s power, which may be exhausted within 5,000 years, and that humanity receives free, and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases today are produced by burning fossil fuels to heat homes, such as oil or coal.

In addition, optimal use of water, which, as in Colombia, is used to ignite the bulbs most major cities and through dams increasingly questioned because of its impact on ecosystems.

For Domingo Guinea, the National Research Council of Spain, the most urgent task to accomplish these objectives is that the energy and water are transformed into a public service and are increasingly a source of financial gain.

“At the moment it is no longer used only as a channel to generate profits, there will be a clear possibility of self-sufficiency in much of the planet.”

Guinea says sustainable energy used by our ancestors and the rather more common sense, no need to waste energy from fossil materials, such as electricity. “We’ve been rich and be rich and we continue to squander squandered everything we can.”

However, for the UN, things are going well. Today, China has overtaken the U.S. in renewable energy investments. American investors led the ranking until last year, when the Asian giant nearly doubled the amount spent on the construction of specialized facilities to produce clean energy versus $ 34,600 million to 18,600 million U.S., according to the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

This nation invests more in 148 percent renewable in 2005. Another country that stands out in its environmental awareness is Turkey, which invests 178 percent over five years ago. In Europe, meanwhile, more than 20,000 offshore wind farms under construction.

In Colombia there are efforts in wind energy in the Alta Guajira, where Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) launched the first wind farm, Jepirachi, with 15 wind turbines that provide 19.5 megawatts to the national grid. There is research to generate energy from biomass, and in this case, sugar cane bagasse in Santanderes, the Eastern Plains and the Atlantic coast. As with the waves, to produce 30 gigawatts by 3,000 kilometers of coastline.

Also detected the possibility of producing electricity with geothermal energy. This energy is pollution-free, but it costs two to three times more than normal and is limited to areas of tectonic activity. Geothermal Atlas of Colombia indicates that there are possibilities to have it from the Chiles volcano, Cerro Black and Azufral (Nariño) in Nevados National Park and the Geothermal Area Paipa-Iza (Boyaca).

Also in the Nevado del Ruiz. Studies by the University, this mountain is characterized by explosive eruptions periodically and have multiple layers of hardened lava (pyroclastic) and volcanic ash. The exploration phase will begin this year with the drilling of five wells with depths of 2 to 3 kilometers (each with an estimated cost of $ 5 million). If you check the existence of the resource, the production wells drilled and water reinjection at the end of 2013. The next step will be building a plant to generate electricity, which would be operated by Isagen, possibly from 2013.

These local efforts have led in recent years has increased investment in renewable ‘green’ all over the globe. Between 2004 and 2009, renewable energy capacity grew by 10 to 60 percent. And while in 2005 only 55 countries promoted in 2010 that number increased to 100.

According to the IEA, between now and 2035 would require a global investment of 38 billion dollars in infrastructure to meet growing energy demand, of which 90 percent come from countries like China and India. But everything will depend on the balance in the grants management change and these are reduced to fossil fuels (400,000 million dollars a year). Greenpeace accounts make clear the way: “With just redirect all subsidies for fossil fuels to renewable energy programs, the 2,000 million poor people have access to energy, not 2030, but in this decade.”

The financial vice president of the Balearic Government has released the new call for public aid to renewable energy development, with funds from the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDEA), divided 2,275,000 euros between Islands.

The sector, one of the few to rise during the economic crisis, welcomes this new line of grants as an opportunity to convince people of the need to install renewable energy equipment in their own homes in order to overcome the progressive increase in the cost of light , already has gone up to 75% in the last five years and promises to continue to rise in the future.

Assistance organized by the economic department of the Bauzà Government granted to either solar, wind, mixed, biogas or thermal biomass teams. The resolution of Vice President Josep Ignasi Aguiló makes it clear that it will subsidize up to 30% of the cost of installation and the maximum injection of public money will be € 200,000 per applicant.

The official deadline for eligibility for support will end on Sunday 22 January. To be awarded some of the grants, you only have to prove that is has undertaken any renewable installation of its kind between the August 14, 2010 and August 15 this year. Installation companies can also seek help from the administration.

The cumulative production of renewable energy in 2011 was 10.2% lower than the same period in 2010 and has cut its weight by 2.3 points in the ‘mix’ generation, from 35% last year to 32.7 % now.

These data, which are included in the daily monitoring of Spain’s Red Electrica (REE) of the electrical system are not yet final, 2011, coincided with a sharp increase in the production of coal-fired plants, which provide a 95 % more.

The burning of this fuel for electricity generation is fueled by a royal decree or gifts of technical restrictions that gives preference to domestic coal, whose use has increased by 84%. Still, imported coal production rises by 119%.

Among the renewable technologies, wind is nearing the end of the year down 4.5% after it cut production by 8.5% so far this month, while the hydraulic generates 24% less than electricity and has grown from providing a 16% to 11.5%.

In any case, the wind has not significantly reduced their weight in the ‘mix’. If in 2010 accounted for 16% of electricity, now accounts for 15.8%. This slight variation reflects the fact that electricity demand drops by 1%, while in 2010 increased 2.9%. On the other hand, solar photovoltaic now produces 25% more weight and already has close to 3% in the ‘mix’, while the CSP, in the takeoff, nearly triple its contribution.

The main change in conventional technologies applicable to coal, which has gone from having a weight of 8% of the parent generation to 15.4% today.

Nuclear power produces a 7% less, but just a point cut in its contribution to the overall electrical system, from 22% to 21%, while gas combined cycle reduce its production by 241% and go from 23% despite to 18.8%.

The venue this time is eastern Nepal after the failure in 1989 which involved the installation of wind turbines in the north, where six months were shattered by the strong currents of air down a ridge that is the roof of the world.

The aim of the new initiative is to produce 12 kilowatts per day by wind turbines and solar panels to provide electricity to the population of Dahubadi, in which the project has been a real revolution for its 400 inhabitants.

“Now we can watch TV when you want to charge mobile phones and that our children study at night,” told Efe Padam Bhadur Rana Magar, a resident of the village who explained that the new system has a host of other jobs.

To provide them with that until now was its main source of energy, kerosene, Dahubadi residents were forced to travel on foot, by car or donkeys and horses the 27 miles that separate the village from the nearest road.

When running out of kerosene, the issue was more complicated, the neighbors sometimes had to resort to burning the dried feces of cattle, and also human, for lighting, heating and cooking, a scenario that has been finished with the new system.

Dahubadi lives ginger cultivation, which is their main source of income and a plant that is dried before sale, up to the launch of the initiative drying wood burning was achieved but the process now made ​​solar panels.

The next innovation will be the access to drinking water, people get walking for fifteen minutes to reach the nearest spring but once started the project it is hoped soon to be pumped to the town.

Sponsor of the revolutionary system is the Asian Development Bank (ADB), based in Manila, as part of a program that also includes projects in other African countries such as Bangladesh, Mongolia, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

In Nepal, the hope is that, to be crowned with success, Dahubadi model used to apply the method in another 1,000 towns in the country, one of the poorest in the world where 48 percent of its population lacks electricity .

That prospect has prompted authorities in Kathmandu, who lack political line in the field of renewable energies, to plan the creation of a sector fund, announced Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Krishna Gyawali.

But sources said the finance company promoter Dahubadi experience before extending the project to other locations where calibration is required and how to install the hybrid system to avoid fiascoes like a little more than two decades.

An expert from the government’s Center for Alternative Energy Promotion, Surya Sapkota, Efe told that the danger is precisely the capacity to generate wind power has the Himalayas, whose enormity can become an obstacle.

The environmental organization and the social networking giant, jointly develop programs to raise awareness among Facebook users about the importance of energy saving, to then transfer this initiative to the entire community.

This announcement comes two years after the launch of Greenpeace’s global campaign, “Facebook: No to coal’. The campaign won the support of more than 700,000 e-activists who demanded that all its offices Facebook run on clean energy instead of fossil fuel generated. This set a new Guinness record for the largest number of comments from Facebook generated in one day.

As a result of this announcement today, the campaign comes to an end.

“Greenpeace and Facebook work together to encourage major energy producers to abandon the use of coal and instead invest in renewable energy,” said Martin Prieto, Executive Director of Greenpeace in Argentina. “This shift toward clean energy and safe, help fight against the greenhouse effect and ensure a stronger economy, with healthy communities,” said Prieto.

Facebook announced today that the goal is to their operations, and even their data centers, fed by the use of renewable and clean energy. The company will increase its leadership in these initiatives through its project called Open Compute Project (“Open Computer”) will encourage their use in other technology companies.

“Facebook looks forward to the day when the main energy sources are clean and renewable, for that we are working with Greenpeace and others to achieve our desire,” said Marcy Scott Lynn, the program’s sustainability Facebook. “Greenpeace was successful in using the Facebook platform to generate environmental awareness and action. We are quite happy to work with them and explore new ways that Facebook can be used to zoom in and connect users with the environmental issues that concern them most, from their own energy consumption through access to clean sources.”

As part of the agreement, the social networking giant, will continue its research on energy efficiency and sharing of results via Open Computer Program, which will be supported by Greenpeace. In turn, Facebook plans to engage in dialogue with its suppliers of energy sources used in their datacenters.

“Facebook’s commitment to challenge other companies in computing and cloud computing, such as Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Twitter,” said Prieto. “Facebook campaign showed that people worldwide want their social networks to commit to clean energy and not derived from coal. Greenpeace will continue measuring, reporting and campaigning for a green computer industry, “he said.

In turn, Greenpeace and Facebook also agreed to develop and promote these experiences on Facebook, so connecting to the public and organizations with issues related to renewable energy. Greenpeace makes extensive use of Facebook to engage its partners in campaigns and the environmental organization has more ‘I like’s on Facebook.

The ambitious initiative may have been encouraged by a rapid increase in the installation of solar energy in recent months after the government unified the tariffs for solar energy projects in July and offered a higher price for the projects put into operation before year-end.

China had already doubled its goal of producing solar energy by 2015, 10 GW, after the crisis of the Japanese nuclear plant. The installed capacity of solar power in late 2010 was less than 1 GW in China, the world’s largest exporter of photovoltaic products and home to some of the best players in the industry, like Trina Solar, JA Solar, LDK Solar and Suntech Power .

Annual production of solar energy will reach 20,000 million kilowatt hours in 2015 and wind energy production will reach 190,000 million kWh, China National Radio said.

Projected capacity of 100 GW of wind power in 2015, will be built in 5 GW offshore wind farms. The total production target of wind power remained stable. The production of non-fossil energy, including wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and nuclear power, is 480 million tons of coal in 2015.

Wind in Brazil: booming wind energy market. Brazil has 1,400 MW of wind power, and provides multiplicarr eight the number of wind turbines by 2014, according to the Brazilian Wind Energy Association, ABEEólica.

Brazil is undergoing a boom in wind energy thanks to its lower output prices, coupled with government incentives that attract a growing number of foreign companies. The country’s wind industry has a current capacity of 1,400 MW and is expected that this figure is multiplied by eight for 2014, according to the Brazilian Wind Energy Association, ABEEólica.

A study by Emerging Energy Research Institute IHS notes that Brazil, the largest wind energy market in Latin America, will be 31.6 GW wind (a gigawatt equals 1,000 MW) of installed capacity by 2025.

In an energy auction in August organized by the government, owners of 44 wind farms in Brazil won 39% of the total capacity offered, providing for the first time an average price of 99.58 reais ($ 62.91) per MWH below the average of two gas projects (103.26 reals) and a hydroelectric project (102 reals).

Lower producer prices, government incentives and rising energy demand in Brazil have attracted a significant number of foreign companies.

Wobben Windpower, a subsidiary of German group Enercon, installed the first wind turbine factory in the 90s and expects to install 22 wind farms totaling 554 MW by the end of 2012. This company followed the Spanish Gamesa, Argentina’s Impsa, Germany’s Siemens, Vestas, the Danish maker of wind turbines in the world, GE Wind (a branch of GE Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric) and India Suzlon.

The latest to join the group of investors is the French giant Alstom engineering, who on Wednesday opened a plant to build wind turbines in Bahia (northeast), its first in Latin America.

The factory, located in the Camacari industrial complex near Salvador, Bahia’s capital, will have a production capacity of 300 MW to meet the domestic and export markets. Alstom said that his ambition is to reach its current wind industry 40% share in the hydroelectric sector in Brazil.

Thus, Eco Biomass use a combination of proprietary technologies and existing acquired to manufacture and sell wood pellets roasted renewable. The initial installation of the company, which should be operational in 2013, will produce wood pellets that will be sold through agreements with major utilities.

The roasting process involves overheating of the biomass fuel to create a uniform, hydrophobic, dense and highly efficient coal-like but with a superior environmental profile. Because of the unique properties of the fuel roasted and its benefits in terms of combustion, this renewable solution “to pay” manufactured by Eco Biomass provides an alternative for utilities looking to reduce their carbon emissions and extend the life their facilities and infrastructure existing coal combustion without having to make capital investments too great.

“While the roast is widely used in many industries, adapting to the renewable energy sector has yet to demonstrate its cost-effectiveness and adaptability. Our partnership with ConocoPhillips is designed to provide the new renewable fuel and sustainable sector of energy production and help our customers in the public services to reduce their environmental impact in a competitive manner, “said John Keppler, President and CEO of Envive. “Our two companies are innovators in the energy sector and this partnership underscores our commitment to developing sustainable solutions in energy.”

Due to the large number of clients in the commercial and public services in the United States, Europe and Asia seeking to upgrade their production facilities to use energy from renewable fuels, Eco Biomass seek to significantly expand its production capacity over the coming years. Envive already operates plants in traditional wood pellets in the United States and Europe accounting for about 750,000 metric tons of annual capacity combined in 2011.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan of U.S. $60 million to help Trinidad and Tobago, a major oil producer, to begin a process of transition to a more efficient energy grid, sustainable and clean. This loan, the first in a programmatic series of three operations, strengthen the legal framework and to contribute to the consolidation of a more sustainable energy sector, with emphasis on renewable energy, greater efficiency, transparency and accountability.

Also, the financial transaction will support the development of new policies and standards to promote energy efficiency and measures that serve to increase the environmental sustainability of alternative fuels such as natural gas and compressed natural gas (CNG).

Finally, production and promote efficient and rational use of fossil fuels, as well as strengthening the institutional capacities that will encourage the use of sustainable energy. Also will support the implementation of various public education campaigns.

“The program will promote a sustainable energy framework that will guide the exploration, exploitation, utilization and monetization of energy resources, where energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, like solar water heaters, for example, alternative fuels, carbon reduction and innovation play a strategic role, “said the head of the IDB project team, Natasha Marzolf.

By supporting these measures, the program will contribute to the efforts of Trinidad and Tobago to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.

Under this program, the authorities develop a “Green Paper on Energy and Minerals Policy in Trinidad and Tobago”, which will shape the energy regulatory framework, which will then undergo a public consultation process that will get feedback .

The program includes a series of taxes and tax incentives to promote the import and installation of wind turbines and solar water heaters, as well as conversion kits for vehicles that can operate with GNC.También consider the creation of incentives for companies conducting energy audits and implement other energy efficiency measures.

Similarly, the program will support the efforts made ​​regarding the implementation of various campaigns of public education and awareness activities on energy. Also help develop a plan to establish a Center for Caribbean Renewable Energy, which will help to spread throughout the region the principles of cleaner energy.

The loan has a term of 20 years with a grace period of five years and variable interest rate based on LIBOR.

Thus, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Charitable Trust, with support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), signed Tuesday, November 15 a memorandum of understanding in Lerwick.

The partners will develop a roadmap to promote the development of marine energy in the territory of the Shetland Islands. It will allow all the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands to appropriate the economic and social benefits of the enormous energy potential of their maritime territory, and the proposed electrical transmission cable connecting them to Scotland.

The first project to the agenda will be a wave project of 10 MW on the west coast of the islands of the northern England.

“We will work with these stakeholders to ensure the people of Shetland economic and social benefits from the large energy potential of their marine environment. Such a partnership is a first in this emerging industry, and presents a unique opportunity to join a major European player to encourage the development of this emerging industry, for the benefit of all, from the beginning, “said Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney.

For Veijo Huusko, director of the Energy Marine at Vattenfall, “The maritime history of the Shetland Islands and their experience in developing large oil and gas platforms make this area an excellent choice for the development of marine energy. The work done by the local community to develop and plan the exploitation of their marine environment is very impressive. This partnership represents a real opportunity to work closely with these communities and develop with them this emerging industry.”

The idea to draw the wave energy is gaining ground in recent years, but has not yet reached the commercial stage. In its decision, the Commission finds that public funds allocated to the project are consistent with the guidelines on State aid for research, development and innovation (R & D & I) of the EU.

“If successful, the project closer to the market a green energy technology is currently immature, without unduly distorting competition. It will contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU’s R & D, climate change and to energy, “said Joaquín Almunia, Vice President of the Commission responsible for competition policy.

The Commission found that the research could not obtain adequate financing on the capital market because of its complexity and importance of its risks. She also thinks it may have significant benefits in the European Union in terms of dissemination of knowledge, environmental protection and energy security.

Then, the project should provide valuable information on the design, operation and sustainability of systems based on technology wave. Despite the many projects underway or planned in this field in Europe and other parts of the world, there is currently no commercial application running continuously at significant power levels.

The total cost of R & D project is estimated at Seabased 344 million SEK (37.5 million), of which SEK 139 million charged to the Swedish government. This project will be implemented in cooperation with the energy company Fortum Oy

The technology uses the Navy Seabased height differential between the crest and trough of the waves. The system is also designed to provide increased power at low speeds.

The wave energy device consists of a permanent magnet generator for direct drive linear, specially developed to capture wave energy by a surface buoy (called “point absorber”).

Converter acting as a generator is connected to the buoy by a rope, which moves linearly (from top to bottom) within a fixed stator. In the converter, powerful magnets (neodymium iron boron), generate a magnetic field that converts the kinetic energy of waves into electrical energy.

Each unit is anchored to a certain depth with a concrete foundation. These foundations are designed and sized in accordance with the load and ground conditions.

“With this acquisition, Siemens strengthens its activities in the production of marine energy. We will actively develop the commercialization phase of Marine Current innovative devices,” said Michael Axmann, Chief Financial Officer of the Division of Solar and Hydro Energy Sector in Siemens.

Ocean energy is experiencing strong growth worldwide driven by CO2 reduction commitments. Until 2020, experts predict a double-digit growth in this market. New estimates of the potential global production of electricity from tidal power stations put the figure of 800 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. For comparison, this would amount between 3% and 4% of global electricity consumption.

MCT expects to submit in the coming months to investors 2 projects with 8 megawatts (MW) and 10 MW, respectively, the project Kyle Rhea in Scotland and that of Skerries Anglesey in Wales.

In addition, MCT plans to install a tidal power infrastructure “FORCE” based in the Bay of Fundy in Canada and received a lease of the Royal Estate (Crown Estate) to deploy 100 MW off Brough Ness, on the southernmost tip of the Orkney Islands in Scotland.

MCT has successfully implemented its first large-scale demonstrator, the SeaGen in Northern Ireland in Strangford Lough. Since November 2008, the two axial turbines of SeaGen, with a combined capacity of 1.2 MW were connected to the network supplying the equivalent of about 1500 homes. To date, the SeaGen would have injected in the network more than 2.7 GWh of electricity!

The turbines generate electricity using tidal current. The turbine ‘SeaGen is attached to a structure and is driven by the flow of the tides with a key advantage: the power generated is predictable in the tidal cycle. This technology is similar to that of a wind turbine including blades activated not by wind but by the tidal current. Water has an energy density of more than 800 times that of the wind. The twin turbines rotate with an angle of 180 degrees to capture an optimum tidal current (direction + speed).

For its part, the group Alstom – a direct competitor of Siemens – is also preparing to take a dip in tidal power next year. The French group is currently building a prototype of a megawatt of power, using technology licensed from the Canadian Clean Current Power Systems. At a conference in Bali last month, Philippe Gilson, Director of Alstom ocean energy, said his group planned to install the turbine in 2012 fully submersible to 20 feet high in the Bay of Fundy (New Scotland).

Developing a study of technical and economic feasibility of a thermal power plant of 200 MW is the aim of the project has been launched in Botswana this week and will feature the National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER) technical project leader in which also involves Nixus Consulting, Ynfiniti and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Managed by the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and funded by the World Bank and African Development Bank for a period of 12 months CENER main function will select the technology best, choose the size and configuration plant and finally decide the ideal location.

Manuel Blanco, Director of CENER Solar Power visited this week this southern African country to start the project, with all institutions and social agents, formalize the opening of the office in that country and carry out the review of the scope of work, along with other project partners.

On Tuesday, the King will travel to Sevilla to open, along with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the new CSP ‘Gemasolar’ in the town of Fuentes de Andalucía. Gemasolar is a solar thermal power project undertaken by the engineering firm Sener and the company Basque Masdar, funded by the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which has invested heavily in renewable energy, aware that its large oil reserves will be exhausted someday.

Torresol Energy, developer and operator of solar thermal power plants, will open on Tuesday, October 4 Gemasolar solar thermal, Fuentes de Andalucía (Sevilla), the first commercial concentrating solar energy receiver technology and system tower molten salt storage.

At a press conference, the president of Torresol Energy, Enrique Sendagorta, said that the investment for this project has been around for 250 million euros and its operation is based on concentrating the sun’s rays, using mirrors, at a point by circulating a fluid, which in turn serves heat to generate steam that drives a turbine.

The CSP is operational since May 1 and are “very satisfied” with the level of production since the radiation zone can provide power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Gemasolar, one of 19.9 MW of thermal power, is able to provide 110GWh a year, supplies to 27,500 homes, reduced by more than 30,000 tons per year of CO2 emissions and avoids the need to burn 89,000 tons of lignite per year or to import 28,600 tons of oil per year.

The solar field consists of 2652 heliostats, whose assembly was held in seven months. These heliostats are arranged in concentric rings around the tower and the furthest away is situated at a distance of about one kilometer. Each heliostat has a mirror surface of 120 square meters which is oriented on an ongoing basis throughout the day depending on the position of the sun and weather conditions.

During the 29 months of construction have generated over 1,800 jobs directly and the design is employed more than 240 engineers, to be “more complex projects Sener”, and now in its maintenance have been generated about 30 jobs. Also Sendagorta wanted to emphasize that the technology has been designed in Spain and 85 percent of its components and systems have also been produced in Spain.

As he explained, the president of Energy Torresol what distinguishes this from the rest is thermal storage capacity, which uses a technology that “has a long way in the face of lower costs.” “It is not yet competitive with other forms of energy such as gas or oil, because its technological development is recent,” but “the components are simple and when you get to standardize and industrialize will start lowering path.”

In this regard, said that solar energy being at an early stage or initial need any help, but “the important thing is that progressively until 2020, these rates decrease” so that “energy 2020-2025 CSP is competitive and does not need help. ”

The company Torresol, who was born in 2008, fruit of an alliance of companies Sener and Masdar, has invested in its first three years in Andalusia a total of 940 million euros and has three strengths. On the one hand, Sener technology, which has invested in solar since 2004 and for the solar thermal parabolic trough, the geographic presence in markets where there is no future with important market in the coming decades, such as Spain, the Persian Gulf States States, and the vocation of achieving excellence in the maintenance area.

The company also predicted that the end of this year and the beginning of 2012 to implement the two twin 50 MW thermal installed in San José del Valle (Cadiz) – Valle Valle I and II – using technology parabolic trough collectors, as well as new projects in the Gulf, California and Andalusia itself from 2013.

In the case of Andalusia, as Sendagorta, “are ambitious plans” with the intention to continue investing in new projects in areas where they are already present – Fuentes de Andalucía (Sevilla) and San José del Valle (Cadiz). He also believes that these new projects will be “double size” Gemasolar, although at a cost of between 250 and 300 million euros, which will require 25 percent less.

While carrying out these investments, the president has claimed Torresol security framework. “These investments are no joke and need stability in the regulatory framework,” he stressed, to which he added is “unthinkable” that is invested with a definite pattern and “half way, it will change.”

Now, two U.S. companies have signed an agreement to build the first two floors of the world ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) on two islands in the Bahamas. The aim is that this technology will spread and become a sustainable energy alternative, and increasingly, economically viable for more than 100 tropical regions worldwide.

The power supply on the islands is a real problem. Granted, you can have enough wind and solar, but that supply is not always constant. On the mainland you can use the electricity transmission network itself as a store that dampens the fluctuations in power. But in the islands, are forced to invest in expensive batteries to store electricity or continue to receive supplies of fossil fuels. Tropical islands have, unknowingly, another huge potential. This is the difference between the temperature of the water surface and deeper layers, sometimes up to 20 º C cooler.

A thermal power plant uses a heat source to boil water. The heat source can come from coal, nuclear reactor or a solar concentrator tower (CHP). The steam drives a generator that produces electricity. This is what is called the Rankine cycle.

OTEC uses the temperature gradient of the ocean to produce electricity. It is based on organic Rankine cycle, a variation of the above where the water is replaced by a fluid with a very low boiling point, for example, ammonia. To cool the liquid and restart the cycle, using the colder water of the ocean. What is the source of heat? The sun heats the ocean surface and this heat is used by OTEC.

Obviously, the efficiency of OTEC system falls far short when compared to other technologies that use water vapor, so that, until now, was not economically viable. But now, OTEC plants have new and exciting benefits:

Potable water supply. Theoretically, an OTEC plant can generate up to 2MW of clean electricity, and produce 4,300 m3 of desalinated water from the ocean every day.

Cooling that can take advantage of the areas near the plant. Cold water may be used to cool buildings or the ground, allowing the cultivation of own cooler climates.

The chairman of Siemens, Peter Löscher, announced in a statement to the weekly Der Spiegel total abandonment of nuclear energy business from its group. “That chapter is closed to us,” said Löscher, whose company has been involved for decades in building nuclear power plants around the world.

The decision, says the head of Siemens, is your company’s response to the clear positioning of the society and politics in Germany in favor of abandoning nuclear energy after the catastrophe of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Löscher considered key decision before the summer by the Bundestag to approve the nuclear outage in Germany for 2022 and go up then shutting down all nuclear power plants in this country.

The president said his group Siemens will from now on to participate in the complete nuclear power plant construction and only continue to build components for wind turbines that are also used in conventional power plants. It also announces the end of a project joint venture with the Russian nuclear consortium Rosatom , which it hopes that, despite everything, it can work in other fields.

Löscher century project valued as agreed to change the energy in Germany and considered feasible the goal of raising up to 35% of energy production from renewable sources by 2020. It expresses its full support to the policy of the Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to address the crisis in the euro zone.

Siemens aims to Convertible in the third wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas and GE behind and ahead of Enercon, Gamesa and Suzlon, the wind well and Chinese Goldwind Sinovel. Siemens is already the largest provider of offshore wind aerogenedores.

Siemens will be responsible for building solar thermal power plant Arenales, near Seville town of Moron de la Frontera, among many others.

Siemens initiated an innovative pilot project to mobilize a fleet of electric cars in Berlin will be available to their employees during the next 12 months. The new Auto-sharing system (car sharing) is part of the pilot project “Infrastructure and city” Siemens launched in November 2010 in the cities of Erlangen and Munich and also included a fleet of electric vehicles.

“Although we in developing countries we are not left behind, we are developing a lot of renewable energy, which is coupled to the mitigation of greenhouse gases, which, come together within the goals of the National Program of Climate Change , “said Secretary of dissemination of the National Association of Solar Energy (ANES), José Celis. He said laws in the country have advanced considerably from 10 years to date, to the extent that there are programs so that citizens can invest in renewable energy and tax deductible.

He stated that companies must submit environmental impact statement before the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) for approval of any project, what he considered a breakthrough in the country.

“Also, the Federal Government’s policy states that we have priority projects that are using the Clean Development Mechanism, developed countries like the European Union, Japan, among others, can make investment projects in Mexico to mitigate greenhouse greenhouse effect and give financial and technological and economic support to carry them out, “he said.

“The barriers we see today are not like we saw 10 years ago for lack of money, lack of a structured policy,” he said. Celis said that there are mechanisms and government support, so now needed is to raise awareness about the environmental cost of burning oil, which is not reflected in what you pay for the electricity bill, a social cost as a country is paying.

The challenge for Mexico is to incorporate environmental issues for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the mood to tackle climate change and develop a financial market that provides credit to implement programs to minimize the impact to the environment.

The representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Mexico and head of the Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean, Kai Bethke, acknowledged that the Mexican banking sector is still not sufficiently developed to provide credit to smaller companies.

“In Mexico there is a lot of technology, but we need increased participation of Small and Medium Enterprises and poke them with incentives to implement this environmental approach,” he added.

Six of the ten generators of the power plant, located on the west coast South Korea, began operating last August progressively, Efe reported. The facility will have a generating capacity of 254,000 kilowatts per day, which, according to the agency, citing South Korean sources, making it the world’s largest tidal power plant, ahead of de Rance (northwestern France), generates 240,000 kilowatts per day and began operating in 1966.

It is expected that the South Korean plant becomes operational Shihwa hundred percent of capacity in December and can reduce the oil consumption of 860,000 barrels per country per year, in addition to avoiding the emission of 320,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The plant has been installed at the edge of an artificial lake waterfront near Seoul, and occupies an area of ​​140,000 square meters. Ten turbines of 25.4 MW and operate eight gates at the bottom of this season of 15 stories high, whose construction began in 2004 and has involved an outlay of $ 335 million.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has stressed that this facility is a symbol of your government’s intentions to develop renewable energy. “This plant is not only a symbol of green growth, but represents a trend that the world will follow,” he stated. According to the South Korean government, during the term of Lee South Korea has increased its energy independence from 7 to 15 percent of its total electricity needs.

This information is not a joke! Their report stating “the fat alligator destined for biofuel production” was published in the ACS, a journal of reference in industrial research and engineering.

Rakesh Bajpai and his colleagues at the University of Louisiana, and noted that most of the 700 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States (2008 data) came from soybean oil.

The search for non-food sources for the production of biodiesel has already identified a number of potential candidates, including used oil from fast food restaurants and wastewater. Scientists have learned that fat alligator could join that list. Each year, the meat industry pours alligator about 6 800 tonnes of fat alligator in landfills.

They demonstrated in the laboratory and the oil extracted from this particular fat can be easily converted into biodiesel. Ultimately, this type of oil is actually more suitable for biodiesel production as the oil of certain other animal fats. The composition of biodiesel from “Gator” is similar to that of soybeans, and achieved almost all the official standards in obtaining high-quality biodiesel.

After installing the first turbine at the site of Horaine, it will be tested a few months without network connection. Then the turbine will be out of the water and stored on the installation barge, the time to make changes or maintenance, and pending the second phase.

The purpose is to verify the technical choices and possibly improve performance and installation requirements and to limit the industrial and environmental risks in the development of the park from 4 machines. The results will validate the following in particular: design / manufacturing / installation / maintenance / environmental impact.

A submarine cable connection to the land (15 km) to the right of the loop of Launay is also planned. Commissioning industrial park demonstration is expected in late summer 2012.

The company is the designer of OpenHydro turbines while the French shipbuilder (DCNS) is responsible for assembling the first equipment at its facility in Brest. Thus, the total investment was estimated at 40 million euros, for a total capacity of 2 megawatts (MW).

DCNS has launched a few years ago, in a new field of innovation and development: marine energy. According to the French specialist in naval defense, they represent “a potential source of even more interesting because the 15% of people worldwide who are still without electricity in 2030, 80% live in coastal areas “.

In late January 2011, DCNS has acquired a stake in its Irish OpenHydro up to 8%, a value of 14 million euros.

In the hexagon, two sites are particularly suitable for the recovery of the marine energy: the Raz Blanchard on the coast of the Cotentin (Manche) and Fromveur, located at the westernmost tip of Brittany, between the islands of Molène and the island of Ouessant.

DCNS has also launched in 2010 a feasibility study of a farm of 20 MW of turbines at the Raz Blanchard, in the Channel. The installation of the first machines could be from 2014/2015.

Solar Bus?

These electric buses have their name the source of energy. In fact they work with solar energy: in addition to solar panels embedded in the roof providing additional power, the batteries are recharged using solar panels.

The specifications stipulated a displacement capacity of 250 km per day for the city bus with no possibility of taking long breaks to recharge the batteries. Thus, the buses have been designed to allow a quick change of battery while one is charging, the other drives the bus. Due to the optimization of the final weight, the bus with battery and solar photovoltaic roof weighs no more than the equivalent diesel – about 4.6 tonnes – and traveling at a speed of 80 km / h. The characteristics of this bus are available on the website Solarmobil we can retain a battery can go 80 to 100 km and the battery change only takes two minutes. The heating and cooling is in turn based on an electric heat pump.

Since July, the city bus is being tested in the city of Perchtoldsdorf in Lower Austria, where it is integrated with public transport in the city, the smaller version of the bus will be tested from autumn Hornstein in Burgenland.

Austrian bus

All stages of research and development were carried out by Austrian companies and organizations. This collaboration has mobilized teams of AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), the manufacturer Kutsenits Busconstruction, University of Technology Graz, Austria Solarmobil and electricity supplier Ökostrom in addition to firms involved in the construction of bus. These partnerships are detailed on the website of Solarmobil.

ATP is the molecule that stores energy produced during photosynthesis and may need to be degraded by the enzyme ATPase, when the bacterium needs to use this energy. To protect the bacteria against stress situations, such as variations in brightness, the ATPase of the cyanobacterium has a small area that operates as a molecular switch. This prevents the ATP to be degraded too quickly under conditions of stress, such as during a prolonged dark period during which the process of photosynthesis can take place. The molecular switch prevents energy waste and the bacteria, creating a reserve of energy, these phases can withstand stress.

Matthias Rogner and his colleagues deleted the area acting as a molecular switch in the ATPase in cyanobacteria genetic modifications. The early assumptions were that the scientific development of cyanobacteria would be modified less efficiently. After observation, the results proved different. Bacteria have developed as usual in laboratory conditions (no light stress), but with a slightly lower stock of ATP resulting in a poorer ability to survive during long periods of darkness, unlike the cyanobacteria with the natural state. In theory, the excess energy produced from sunlight could be recovered for another application of biotechnology, such as hydrogen production by cyanobacteria in a bioreactor. This hydrogen would then be a clean and renewable energy carrier.