Tens of thousands of Japanese homes and businesses are preparing to put new solar panels on their roofs, spurred by a subsidy plan going into effect this month. It is a step towards regaining Japan's once-dominant position in solar energy, something that has become a matter of pride for the country's policy-makers.
Waste heat from industrial plants and electricity-generating stations represents a huge amount of lost energy. David Lindley finds out what engineers and regulators need to do to get it back.
After spurning wind power, China has swung around and embraced this clean energy. But the nation's love affair with wind may be spinning out of control, finds David Cyranoski.
Staff shortages in the US fossil-fuel industry are good news for geologists, chemists and physicists. The boom is likely to continue despite the economic downturn and the rise of renewable energy, says Emma Marris.
Wind developers in the United States could be the first among the energy sector to fall victim to the global financial meltdown emanating from Wall Street. The banking crisis that began with bad loans in the US housing sector has now brought down several commercial banks, one of the world's largest insurance companies and leading investment banks.
