The US wind power market has put on a breathtaking turn of speed in the last few years. And now, the incentives have been improved and the supply chain strengthened.

Farmers are not alone in keeping a close eye on the weather-in the control centres of the energy sector and on the trading floor of the electricity exchange, too, it is always good to know exactly when the wind will be blowing or the sun shining. The special services offered by meteorologists are here invaluable aids to decision-making.

Austria is considered a European leader in the use of solid biomass for heat and power generation. But a new environmental policy could jeopardize the success of the past few years.

Research into new storage technologies is a field in which much is afoot. After all, if heat supply is to be based on solar energy in the future, this calls for more effective storage tanks than those available today.

Spain's Ministry of Industry investigates large scale PV plants after construction and finds two-thirds false reports. Unfinished projects are now threatening to exhaust the quota for 2009.

With the aid of small island PV systems, a German-based aid foundation is bringing light in the huts of Ethiopia's rural population. The solar energy is also awakening the energy of the people themselves.

The current turbulence on the market does not change the basically positive trends in solar energy if we can believe the latest sustainability study conducted by Sarasin. Nonetheless, change is afoot.