Spain plans to help five poor African countries fight hunger and climate change under a 60 million euro ($90 million) scheme to help the continent whose people flood to Spain in their tens of thousands each year. Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega announced the aid package ahead of a Spanish-African women's conference opening on Monday in Niger, one of many African nations struggling to cope with high world food prices.

Adair Turner, the head of Britain's new Climate Change Committee, sees some tough times ahead guiding the government towards legal carbon reduction goals but says he is quietly confident of success. The committee that will become a legal entity when the Climate Change Bill becomes law later this year will have to decide what cuts should be achieved by 2050, set five-year carbon budgets and monitor government progress annually.

Sustainability of biomass as an energy source will be vital if Ireland achieves its renewable energy targets, a conference in Dublin has heard. It is claimed that Ireland needs to gather together significant quantities of biomass in order to hit its targets for 2020 and an EU-wide scheme for determining the sustainability of biofuels is at an advanced stage of progression. The Biomass:Achieving Targets-Maximising Benefits conference was organised by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), Tipperary Institute and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Don Quixote's fictional exploits have thrilled us during our childhood. His futile attacks upon the windmills of La Mancha, in the mistaken belief that they were ferocious giants, are etched in many a memory. That mental picture could lead us to consider windmills to be relics of a bygone era.

With the tariff for generation of power through solar energy being fixed at an attractive rate of Rs 15.96 per unit by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), the state is confident of attracting top corporate houses to set up solar power projects.

A major environmental initiative has been announced to make Croke Park a carbon-free stadium. The Dublin-based stadium currently emits 4,500 tonnes of CO2 a year The new joint project between the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) and the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), entitled Cul Green, aims to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland's most popular sporting venue over the next six years. Croke Park has an annual output of 4,500 tonnes of carbon emissions and Cul Green aims to cut this by more than two-thirds.

A large number of solar power panels installed at road traffic signals all over the Capital have been carted away by thieves in recent weeks and months. This has not only left most road crossings dependent on regular power supply for operation but also led to a situation where the authorities no longer have the solar option to ensure round-the-clock operation of signals at important junctions.

As food prices surge on grocery store shelves, Republican lawmakers on Tuesday said Congress should reverse course and slow a fivefold boost in biofuel use by 2022, or even drop entirely mandates to use ethanol blended from corn. Ethanol, once the darling of the United States' plan to wean itself from foreign energy, has come under attack in recent months as prices for commodities including corn and soybeans have risen to record highs, boosting retail prices for meats, vegetables and bread.

Ireland's wind farms are facing varied and time-consuming problems in reaching EU proposals on renewable energy. By 2020 Ireland has to cut carbon emissions by 20% and increase renewable energy to 16%. To meet the targets, between 300 and 400 MW need to be connected to the grid annually, however last year only 58 MW of wind energy was added reports the Sunday business Post.

Four countries have entered a race to become the world