Biofuels investor Clean Energy Brazil has sold its stake in a Brazilian sugar mill for much less than its initial investment after the plant's debt pile proved too much of a burden in a tough ethanol market.

Chinese solar-cell maker Canadian Solar Inc said on Wednesday it obtained development rights for a 500 megawatt (MW) solar power plant system in China.

The news makes Canadian Solar the latest Chinese solar manufacturer to unveil plans for a large solar power project in China since the country last month launched a long-awaited plan to offer subsidies for the industry.

Solar company LDK Solar Co Ltd said on Tuesday it is partnering with the Chinese city of Yancheng to build up to 500 megawatts of photovoltaic solar power projects over the next five years, sending its shares up 6.2 percent in extended trading.

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.

The Cape Cod resort area, famous for sandy beaches and centuries-old fishing villages, could in the next few years claim a new title of home to the United States' first offshore wind farm.

China has launched an unprecedented plan to offer hefty subsidies to independent solar power projects, a move that sparked a rally in the sector on Tuesday.

Shares of Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd soared 9 percent, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd climbed 10 percent, Trina Solar Ltd rose nearly 9 percent and JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd was trading nearly 8 percent higher.

Public awareness about the "catastrophe" of climate change is not high enough to pressure politicians into taking action, former Vice President Al Gore said on Tuesday.

Gore, who shared a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his environmental campaigning, said politicians will only do more once the people who elect them force the issue.

The first biofuels produced using new generations of biomass raw materials could be available in commercial volumes from 2010 at the earliest, German junior Environment Michael Mueller said on Monday.

But the exact time scale was still unclear, Mueller said at the European Biomass conference in Hamburg.