By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-07-29 15:01
One quarter of the world's population (1.6 billion people) do not have access to electricity in their homes. Over 80% of these people live in rural areas of the developing world, especially in peripheral urban and isolated rural areas. In Sub Saharan Africa, only 8% of the rural population has access to electricity. The lack of electricity deprives people of basic necessities such as lighting and communication, but also hampers productivity and economic development in these areas. Activities are limited to daylight hours.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-07-28 05:30
Money goes to gas pipeline and CCS
Despite EU commissioner Piebalgs recent declarations that energy efficiency is the number one priority, the recently approved EU economic recovery funds for energy projects virtually completely overlooks energy efficiency. The allocation for renewable energy projects is also rather poor.
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By HDK / Published on Mon, 2009-07-27 11:25
[In partnership with VEI]
Various energy sources generate electrical energy in a form that cannot simply be injected into the electricity network, including photovoltaic panels, microturbines, batteries and fuel cells. These sources generate either DC voltage or AC voltage with variable frequency and/or an amplitude or voltage not compliant with the electricity network. To connect such sources to the electricity network nevertheless, a power electronic inverter or transformer must be used.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-07-21 05:30
A reference Web site on environmental psychology
The transition to a sustainable society is not likely to be possible without a change in the behaviour of all of us. But we are all creatures of habit and this raises the question of how we will get people set in their ways to alter their lifestyle. How can a mass behavioural change to the more sustainable use of energy, water and nature be achieved?
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By Guy Kasier / Published on Wed, 2009-07-15 09:42
A WelHops study some years ago assessed the needs of the elderly regarding the buildings and surroundings in which they wish to live. Still as relevant today as it was when it was carried out, this study ran from May 2005 to September 2007 as part of a European INTERREG IIIC project. Taking part were partners from Italy, Sweden, the UK, Spain, and Hungary.
The project objectives were to: -
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-07-14 05:30
Some renewable energy systems rely on scarce resources
In the quest for alternatives to fossil fuels, renewable energy systems are being rapidly developed across a wide spectrum. However, the fact that these new systems replace depletable fossil fuels with renewable sources is in itself not a guarantee of high sustainability. The article 'Why sustainable power is unsustainable' in New Scientist draws attention to this often under-appreciated fact. In our growing focus on energy and climate change, we have a tendency to applaud every renewable energy technology that is being developed and without considering its other sustainability aspects.
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By Roman Targosz / Published on Mon, 2009-07-13 19:43
Commercial, or in other words non-technical losses account for more than 1% of electricity use around the world. The dominant component of these losses is electricity theft. In the largest extent, electricity theft is a problem related to residential customers. In some countries, electricity theft is in the range of, or far exceeding, technical losses in the transmission and distribution sector.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2009-07-13 14:41
Adding large-scale energy storage to the energy system can support the system integration of large volumes of variable energy sources like wind power and solar-PV and/or so-called must-run power plants. Storage can be attractive from different viewpoints, depending on the core business of a company:
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By Fernando Nuno / Published on Thu, 2009-07-09 12:01
This webinar will briefly introduce the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), which is a Vienna-based international organisation that funds small-scale projects designed to accelerate the growth of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE). The seminar will then look in depth at the reegle.info web search engine, a public resource developed by REEEP and REN21, as an authoritative source for high quality information on both RE and EE.
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By Fernando Nuno / Published on Wed, 2009-07-08 14:04
The renewable energy industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in Europe thanks to two factors: the supportive political and legal frameworks and the region’s prominent investment in renewable energy research and development.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-07-08 11:59
[In partnership with VEI] Innovative ideas often originate unexpectedly. Minor adaptations to existing systems often result in major savings. A good example is the fitting of an intelligent control system in soft drink vending machines. This reduces energy consumption by up to 35%.
Consumers
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-07-07 05:30
Five times cheaper than nuclear power
A recent study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) calculated that India could reduce its annual electricity usage by 183.5 billion kWh by investing US$ 10 billion in energy efficiency improvements.
India’s energy demand is expected to more than double by 2030. The country is consequently in need of a huge amount of new power generation capacity. Considering the figures of the WRI, the cheapest generating capacity for India will no doubt be energy savings.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Wed, 2009-07-01 05:30
Leviathan Energy presents a new design concept
While concentrated solar power is entering the commercialisation phase, 'concentrated wind power' is still in the area of bold claims intended to attract research money.
The idea of concentrated wind power is to build a structure that conducts the wind towards the turbine blades and in this way harvests more power.
Recently, an article on CleanTechnica presented a new design of this kind created by Leviathan Energy. It consists of a screen around the base of the turbine that changes air circulation. The company claims this passive structure can increase the turbine efficiency from 30% to as much as 150% at low wind speeds (0-6 meters per second).
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