- A project linking solar power from the Sahara to energy users in Europe and North Africa could create 240,000 German jobs and generate 2 trillion euros ($2,822 billion) worth of power by 2050, a study published on Thursday found.

Like all rural Bangladeshis, Saidul Islam knows the hardships of summer, when his tin-roofed house turns into a furnace with not enough electricity to power even a fan.

For the 100 million Bangladeshis -- most of them farmers -- who live in the countryside, the notion of electricity supply is little more than an empty promise bandied about by politicians at election time.

The City of Brotherly Love is tackling rising unemployment and improving the energy efficiency of homes by training people to weatherize its estimated 400,000 low-income row houses.

Edward Abraham, 28, is one of Philadelphia's first class of 20 "weatherization" trainees who are learning how to install insulation, caulk windows, seal basements and assess fuel usage in city houses.

The government is fulfilling its promise of providing power and other essential utilities to industries across Sindh and the gas pipeline to Small Industries Estate Northern Bypass is a solid example of this commitment.

Ireland's Electricity Supply Board (ESB) expects private industry to create 3,700 jobs over the next five years, largely on the back of investments in green energy, the utility group said on Thursday.

The present government will need its full five-year tenure to generate power to the level the ruling Awami League had pledged before the elections to do in three years.

"What we pledged in the election manifesto to do in three years, we' ll be able to do in our five-year tenure," Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters yesterday.