There are now more than 48,800 wind turbines operating in the US, across 40 states. American wind power has had its most productive first quarter for installations since 2012, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has announced. Robin Whitlock takes a look.
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German legislators fight over policy rollback on renewables
This month, the German government met with state representatives but failed to reach an agreement. The second meeting is scheduled for May 31. At the moment, both sides have simply agreed to disagree. Berlin wants to dramatically slow down the energy transition, and some states will have none of it. Craig Morris explains.
Pushback against onshore wind power in Germany gets real
Up to now, public support for wind power has been very strong in Germany. But recent changes to German law have encouraged local groups that oppose wind farms. The relegation of competence from the national to the state level means that smaller groups have a larger impact. Craig Morris explains.
Fracking is thirsty technology – a look at Latin America
Given the significance of securing water supply for human and non-human life, it is important to understand the potential devastating consequences that fracking has on the contamination and waste of water. Lillian Sol Cueva takes a look.
EU court rules against Berlin in dispute with Brussels over renewables policy
Last week, the EU General Court sided with the European Commission in all respects. At issue were German feed-in tariffs and the industry exemption to the surcharge that finances them. Craig Morris spoke with two of Germany’s experts on the issue: Severin Fischer and Matthias Lang.
Creative accounting, creative coal
The Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło has announced a milestone on the path towards saving Poland’s mining industry: on May 1, a company called ‘The Polish Mining Group’ (PGG) was established. It will take over 11 coal mines, four bankruptcy-threatened plants and debts of mines and plants. Michał Olszewski takes a look.
What does EU power market reform mean for Central and Eastern Europe power markets?
The current market fails to generate pricing signals allowing full cost recovery of power generation. The European Commission decided to introduce a set of measures to ensure generation adequacy and supply security. The measures are further detailed in network codes, explains Jan Ondřich.
Why EU renewable energy figures are misleading
The EU is confident it will reach its target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. But according to Martien Visser, this 20% is in reality more like 14%. This is because a large part of our energy consumption is simply ignored in the calculations for renewable energy.
Understanding record-low 3-cent solar in Dubai in context
In April, a renewable energy auction in the United Arab Emirates produced an astonishingly low price. At 2.99 cents per kilowatt-hour, solar power suddenly costs half as much as it did a year ago. It has thus practically reached the level experts hoped for 2030. Craig Morris explains.
Germany nearly reached 100 percent renewable power on Sunday
After surpassing 80 percent renewable electricity for a few hours last year, Germany may have briefly reached around 95 percent on May 8. But the news is not only cause for celebration – a boundary has also been crossed. We are now entering the hard territory. Craig Morris explains.