An excellent wind resource, powerful coastlines and a wealth of woodland give Scotland an undeniable advantage in the renewable energy race. And Scotland’s politicians appear keen on using this clean energy potential as a major tool to drive economic development. Derry Alldritt and David Hopwood report. 23 August 2010
Lack of investment and an underdeveloped marine supply chain are holding back the marine energy industry in the UK. But there is room for development if the Government and private companies act on the vast potential for wave and tidal power that lies within and around the island, writes David Elliott of QinetiQ. 02 August 2010
With its 2020 targets of 20% of energy from renewable sources, the challenge for the UK Government and the energy industry is to deliver almost a seven-fold increase in the share of renewable energy in little over a decade. The marine renewable energy potential is enormous, with an estimated, technically exploitable potential of some 15 TWh, however, little of this potential has been realised. 21 June 2010
The National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in the UK is set to become a national hub for renewable energy testing, and perhaps even training. 03 June 2010
EU Member States are currently preparing National Action Plans to detail how they will meet their renewable energy targets. 13 April 2010
Technology for extracting power from waves is still very much at the developmental stage, but it is already well known that devices in which the waves set up an oscillation work better if they can achieve resonance with the ‘forcing’ impulse i.e. the waves. In fact, exploiting the resonance phenomenon can amplify harvested wave power several times over what it would otherwise be. George Marsh investigates. 19 February 2010
Companies in the energy sector, ranging from oil majors to start-ups, have long been looking for clean, sustainable sources of energy. In this sector, a start-up can face particular challenges in its quest to develop the “next big thing”. Even if it succeeds, a long road awaits. Connie Carnabuci, Stuart Grider, and Chester Toh chart the legal course of a small renewable energy start-up. 07 January 2010
As an early convert to renewable energy as a business, the founder of Ernst & Young’s renewable energy, waste and cleantech unit - and originator of the Ernst & Young Country Attractiveness Indices - Jonathan Johns, looks at what the recession really means for renewables, and where we go from here. 13 October 2009
A marine power technology company like Atlantis Resources Corp says governments should focus on supporting developers in the short term through offsetting the cost of proving 1 MW+ systems for at least 24 months 01 September 2009
The energy scene in Southern Africa is dominated by South Africa. While its coal-based electricity used to be cheap and reliable by world standards, the South African state utility recently ran out of reserve capacity – with blackouts resulting. In the second part of an article for Renewable Energy Focus, Dieter Holm, long-serving member of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), reports on renewed awareness of energy efficiency and renewable energy in South Africa. 16 June 2009
With increasing use of renewables in the electricity sector, overcoming the intermittency of for example wind and solar is key. James Tipping and Duncan Sinclair at UK energy consultancy Redpoint Energy investigate the use of marine energy to combat intermittency. 22 May 2009
The wind power market has been a huge success story for the composites industry. Is the developing wave and tidal energy sector going to prove the same? 14 May 2009
The UK's forthcoming transition to a low-carbon future has been much touted as a financial and environmental solution. However, it remains uncertain whether the UK has the appropriate skills to underpin a renewable energy revolution. Professor Peter Crossley, Director of the Joule Centre, examines the situation. 25 March 2009
Dieter Holm, long-serving member of the international solar energy society (ISES) looks at the role renewable energies can play in combating climate change in Africa, and argues that the EEG (feed-in-tariff) legislation pioneered in Germany would be the perfect place to start. 28 February 2009
Looking to reduce dependence on imported energy and diversify the sources feeding the main power grid, Chile’s interest in harnessing renewable energies has grown significantly over the last year. A major conference in Santiago tackled the barriers to energy independence, reports Colin Bennett. 01 January 2009
96 entities have set their sights on the UK's latest round of offshore wind project development. 31 December 2008
Compared to wind and solar, tidal power is still regarded as a renewable energy technology that remains unviable on a large scale. But throw together climate change, political will in the UK and the US, entrepreneurial enthusiasm and academic research - with some significant investment - and a new mood of optimism is starting to pervade the sector. 31 December 2008
As one of the largest wind events on the global stage approaches, the big wind companies continue to flex their muscles on the offshore wind stage. 01 October 2008
Major political developments in the UK could have a significant impact on the success of future project development of wind, wave and tidal energy in the country; the Crown Estate has released details of the Round 3 scheme, and parliament turned its attention to planning… 01 July 2008
What's new on the offshore wind and marine project front? Adam Westwood brings us up to date with the latest developments including the news that Marine Current Turbines has successfully completed the first installation phase of the 1.2 MW SeaGen tidal system in Strangford Narrows, Northern Ireland. 01 June 2008
Among the family of renewable energy technologies, ocean energy is the least developed, with just a few MW in operation worldwide. Nevertheless, companies predominantly in Europe, the USA, Canada, are developing a dizzying array of technologies to try and exploit the vast kinetic and potential energy of the world's oceans. Government support is strongest in Europe, but a number of projects are at various stages of development in the US and Canada. 01 June 2008
Despite having renewable resources that some countries can only dream of, Australia's antipathy towards the Kyoto Protocol- not to mention its vast sources of coal- have contrived to give it something of an image problem amongst clean energy investors. This has made it difficult for the country to be seen as financially viable when it comes to renewables investment. But with the new administration that has addressed the Kyoto question, could times be changing? Invest Victoria's Ben Foskett gives a perspective from the State of Victoria and ISES President Monica Oliphant reports back from Adelaide's Solar Cities 2008 Congress. 01 June 2008
E.ON Sverige has pulled out of the Rodsand II offshore wind farm off Nysted in Denmark. What comes next for the project? Adam Westwood reports on this, and other breaking developments in the wave and tidal sector. 01 April 2008
In the first installment of a new column for renewable energy focus, Bill Eggertson introduces the issues surrounding carbon trading. 01 April 2008
George Marsh reports back from the Renewable Energy Association's Wind & Tidal Symposium (WATTS) 2007 at Cowes, Isle if Wight, and Adam Westwood brings Renewable Energy Focus the latest project developments from the offshore wind and marine sector. 01 November 2007
Finding efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways of transmitting electricity generated can be almost as important as generating the electricity in the first place. Peter Jones and Bo Westman look at HVDC Light. 01 November 2007
It isn't just transmission that needs to be looked at carefully when delivering renewables in challenging environments and special applications. Chris Plant and Mike Foster introduce a project investigating sub-sea electrical and fibre-optic connector technology. 01 November 2007
Just as there were once 10 000 windmills across Europe, countless water mills helped power the rural economy and then the industrial revolution. And, just as reinforced plastics have supported the 21st century reincarnation of windmills as wind turbines, so they are beginning to contribute to the next likely large-scale commercial renewable energy source – water current power. 01 June 2004
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