Aviva Investors, the asset management business of the insurance giant, has set up a €500m clean tech investment fund targeting biomass, biogas, geothermal, solar and wind projects across Europe. The company says the European Renewable Energy Fund aims to capitalise on investor interest and the binding EU targets to increase
green
The tiny, remote Scottish island Eigg is aiming to become the country’s first ‘green power’ island after winning a £20,000 grant for making it to the final of Nesta’s Big Green Challenge competition. Unless it’s home to a secret underground power station Greenbang can’t imagine
offshore
The rising cost of offshore wind farms is giving utility company Centrica a touch of the jitters about its massive wind power investment programme – estimated at about £3bn to £4bn. According to several news reports on Friday – one here in the Financial Times and one here in the Daily Telegraph
solar
BP Solar has signed to three-year deal to buy multi-crystalline solar wafers – the principal raw material used to produce solar cells – from Chinese manufacturer LDK Solar. The deal will see LDK Solar will deliver approximately 435 MW of silicon solar wafers, starting next year, and BP Solar will supply a
A maritime service company based in Seattle, Washington, has set out to prove that the old workhorse of the sea — the tugboat — can be mighty without leaving behind a mighty carbon footprint. Foss Maritime Company is currently building what the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/
Just when you thought putting up solar panels was the right way to reduce your carbon footprint and curb climate change, along comes research that turns your good deed into cause for feeling guilt. The disturbing news arrives courtesy of a study by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
While Alaska Governor and former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin claimed her view of Russia across the Bering Strait as foreign policy experience, a different U.S. governor is looking to Europe for models for a new statewide green initiative. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s “Green Jobs Investment Initiative” calls
biofuel
Air New Zealand, Boeing and Rolls-Royce will use biofuel made from the oil of jatropha plants on a commercial airline demonstration flight in December. The ‘green’ jet fuel will be mixed 50/50 with Jet A1 kerosene jet fuel and will power one of the Boeing 747-400’s Rolls-Royce engines.
We’re spoiling you with two Jurdy cartoons this week…
energy
The European Commission is proposing a vast ‘super grid’ using wind farms and solar power to help move Europe to a low carbon economy and secure its future energy supply by reducing dependency on imported gas and oil. The EC’s Second Strategic Energy Review acknowledges the dependence on fossil
Burying carbon dioxide deep underground — carbon sequestration — comes up often as a possible fix for global warming. One concern, though, is how to make sure the carbon dioxide stays where you bury it. After all, as a gas, carbon dioxide is lighter than rocks or water, so it has that
Minivans and sports utility vehicles can’t go extinct quickly enough, from a fuel efficiency standpoint. Still, if you’re saddled with one of these gas-guzzling dinosaurs but can’t afford a better car, don’t despair completely: a team of U.S. researchers has found a way to boost
