Power lines stretching across continents would allow us to ditch fossil fuels for good

A new study by the Energy Watch Group has predicted complete phasing out of conventional power within the first half of the 21st century. Titled, 'Wind Power in Context: A Clean Revolution in the Energy Sector', the report predicts that global non-renewable power generation would 'peak' in 2018 and could be phased out completely by 2037!

Mithradham, implying 'the abode of the Sun and the house of a friend' is an NGO based in Chunangamveli, a beautiful village in Kochi, Kerala. Headed by Dr George Peter Pittappillil, the Mithradham Trust was founded in 1998. "Our NGO is engaged in cultivation, processing and marketing of spices from Kerala through the use of solar energy."

Electricity generation through solar energy can prove to be economical in numerous remote villages like Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu that faces massive power cuts.

Auroville, a small community in Pondicherry is involved in a microcosm of sustainable practices through focus on solar energy.

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.

Manufacturers in the solar-energy industry are downsizing and scaling back their once-ambitious plans. Katharine Sanderson reports.