Speakers at the Renewable Energy Technology (RETECH) Conference and Expo 2009 painted a rosy picture for the renewable energy industry. Some said that 50% of the US electricity could come from renewable energy by 2050.
The current economic downturn consitutes an opportunity for a sustainable future. But there is a risk that the EU member states free themselves of their responsibilities laid down by the renewable energy directive.
While the commercial and banking centre Dubai finds itself dealing with the aftermath of the economic crisis, the conservative neighbour Abu Dhabi is already pursuing ambitious targets-but the climate conditions in the desert states are not always ideal for the utilization of renewable energies.
California - the top wind producer in the US since the 1980s lost its lead in 2008 in the face of intense competition from other states. But backed by strong financial and political support from the government, California's wind energy sector is slowly making a comeback.
In the UK, 2010 got off to a superb start for the wind power industry. Crown Estate has announced the nine successful bidder consortia for Round 3 of the offshore wind farm licencing. As administrative body for Crown property, it is also the official agency for awarding offshore projects.
Brazil could already arrive at grid parity - if modules were produced in the country. Meanwhile, Brazilian home owners are becoming inventive with the installation of solar thermal systems. One popular approach: buying tubes and water collection tanks from the home improvement store.
The use of heat pumps in connection with solar thermal energy systems is becoming increasingly popular in Central Europe. Other countries are also finding this combination attractive.
There are certain technology challenges which have waited in vain over several decades for a satisfactory solution. The economical storage of electricity is one of them. But intensive work in the meantime is driving advances along various avenues.
The international pellet industry published the latest market figures at the European Pellet Conference in Wels, Austria. In spite of the generally depressed state of the economy, the pellet industry remains optimistic and anticipates rapid growth in industrial pellet production.
It keeps on growing and growing - the installed capacity for renewable energy sources. Some regions in Europe are doing especially well out of the renewable energy industry.
