In the last decade hundreds of policies promoting renewable energies have been created worldwide. One of the greatest RE success stories is the worldwide deployment of feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) for electricity from renewable sources. Only ten years ago not more than 13 countries had enacted FiTs (see REN21 Global Status Report 2007) while today at least [...]

The International Standard Organization (ISO) is developing a new standard concerning sustainability criteria for the further development of bioenergy.  This is a response to the current lack of harmonized criteria. The new standard is thought to be a helping tool for governments in order for them to meet their national fuel targets. Biofuel is an [...]

The global pulp and paper industry has substantially increased its use of woody biomass for energy in recent years, and was able to reduce its demand for fossil energy. The increased use of bioenergy by the pulp and paper industry now accounts for 18% of the total energy consumption by this industry sector.
In fact, many [...]

The Winter Olympic Games have kicked off in Vancouver, Canada, this week. The biggest of all sport events attracts thousands of people and usually there’s an increased demand for energy, which generally equals increased GHG emissions. The organizers of this winter’s games aim to make them the greenest ever.
Winter sports depends ice and snow, and [...]

Tonga is a small island state in the  South Pacific Ocean. Its main exports include Cocnuts, Vanilla Beans, bananas and coffe beans, sold mainly to New Zealand and the U.S. In the past the country has tried to satisfy its energy needs by drilling for natural oil in regions that experts didn’t regard as suitable. [...]

In February 2008, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Energy approved an ambitious plan to produce 20% of total electricity from renewable energies by 2020, including a 12% contribution from wind energy. This translates into more than 7,200 MW of grid-connected wind farms. The plan gives enough room for private investors to play a major role [...]

Today is the deadline under the U.N climate accord for rich countries to submit their targets in terms of GHG emissions, and for developing nations to declare their plans for reducing and slowing down emissions.

India is getting focused in terms of increasing capacities of renewable power generation during preparations for crucial negotiations at the end of the month. New policies are being introduced in order to accelerate the transition. An important one was the announcement by India’s power tariff regulator in September about better feed-in tariffs for clean electricity. [...]

The Russian Ministry of Energy is focusing on developing and adopting additional renewable energy regulations in order to accelerate the further development of the renewable energy sector.
“It is true that we are the world’s leading nation in terms of energy resources. This does not mean, however, that we should consume these resources irresponsibly.” said President [...]

The Copenhagen Accord acknowledges the scientific view that the increase in global temperature must be limited to no more than 2 degrees in order to keep our planet the way we know it. This view is shared by most countries, rich and poor. This political accord has set a January 31 2010 deadline for rich [...]