India and the European Union (EU) today signed a major accord for cooperation in the civil atomic energy field and pledged to conclude an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) between them within a year.

THE European Union and India are likely to sign an agreement on civilian nuclear energy, dealing with India

The European Union's executive will next month publish its strategy for promoting hi-tech solutions to climate change, aiming to give European businesses a head start as the world switches to low-carbon energy.

A draft document obtained by Reuters gives insight into the European Commission's priorities.

A pioneering German wind power plant's new high-tech equipment, to capture higher winds further offshore and for longer periods, is exciting the industry.

The Alpha Ventus wind park started this month and operates 45 km off the German-Dutch coast. Existing European wind parks operate only 20 km offshore at the most.

Europe looks set to build slightly more wind capacity this year than in 2008, despite weakening electricity demand due to the economic crisis, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said on Friday.

About 8,600 megawatts of new wind energy capacity will be installed in the European Union's 27 nations in 2009, 1 percent higher than the 8,484 megawatts installed last year, EWEA estimated.

Talks expected to boost Ankara's energy hub ambitions began on Thursday as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin's visit is also expected to focus on Turkish support for a Russian natural gas pipeline project that Moscow wants to build ahead of a rival European Union-backed pipeline.

Lignite power plants belch dust and smoke into the air above the southern Greek town of Megalopolis, but residents resistant to environmental arguments have blocked a scheme to build the country's biggest solar energy project on a nearby hillside.

The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into Austria's new green electricity act on Wednesday because of concerns it may favor large energy consumers.

The 27-nation European Union's executive also approved a plan to grant subsidized feed-in tariffs -- electricity prices above market price -- paid to producers of green electricity to compensate them for extra costs.

The German Cultural Centre in Colombo (Goethe- Institute), the Ruhuna University and Ambewela farms are joining together to construct an industrial level bio gas plant for the first time in Sri Lanka with the assistance of German scientists to generate electricity.