LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) – Clean energy projects in
Europe are increasingly turning to export credits to plug a
financing gap, a valuable sticking plaster as some banks desert
the sector due to the global economic crisis.

Government export credit agencies (ECAs) boost deals either
through direct project lending or loan insurance, and supplied
new business worth over $800 billion last year, according to the
Berne Union trade association.

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – As renewable energy nears
competitiveness with fossil fuels and nuclear power,
California-style auctions of supply contracts may be a better
way to drive value for consumers than calculated subsidies.

German’s solar industry and green groups on Monday protested
in Berlin over sharp cuts to support, which guarantee a premium
power price over 20 years.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) – Contrasting lessons from
Germany’s 20-year pursuit of solar and wind power shows how
other countries might create industrial champions to develop new
energy technologies.

A long-term, global energy recipe for climate change and
security may be emerging, as countries plan broadly to shift to
gas from coal, to electricity and biofuels from oil, and add
more or less of nuclear, renewable energy and, in the future,
carbon capture and storage (CCS).

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Efficiency upgrades of
commercial buildings offer quicker paybacks than homes meaning
diverging challenges for government programmes aimed at
overcoming homeowner and business indifference to saving energy.

The challenge boils down to encouraging businesses to carry
out upgrades that may deliver bigger returns than at first
glance, while convincing homeowners suspicious of benefits from
costly outlays.

LONDON (Reuters) – The UK on Friday published details of its one-billion pound programme to build at least one carbon-capture and storage (CCS) power plant, details widely anticipated since a state-sponsored CCS deal broke down in October.

Calling for proposals for a wide range of engineering projects for CCS, including construction of a power plant, gas storage and pipelines, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) notice of contract was published in the European Union’s official journal.

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The UK on Friday published
details of its one-billion pound programme to build at least one
carbon-capture and storage (CCS) power plant, details widely
anticipated since a state-sponsored CCS deal broke down in
October.

Calling for proposals for a wide range of engineering
projects for CCS, including construction of a power plant, gas
storage and pipelines, the Department for Energy and Climate
Change’s (DECC) notice of contract was published in the European
Union’s official journal.

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The decision by the world’s
leading solar power Germany to slash subsidy support will
probably lead to similar moves across Europe and hasten a
manufacturing shakeout through bankruptcies while sharpening the
technology’s competitive edge.

The announcement on Thursday of a 20-30 percent support cut
will cast a further pall over module (solar panel) makers, which
will brace for further pressure on profit margins as they try to
adjust selling prices in line with the new support
tariff.

LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Discriminating against tar
sands in the name of curbing carbon emissions makes sense, but
is also a distraction from a bigger question about how much
fossil fuel humankind can safely burn.

A calculation of the carbon dioxide emissions embedded in
global crude oil reserves shows that burning these would pump
out more CO2 than many scientists and world leaders have deemed
safe to the climate, after including additional emissions from
deforestation and burning coal and gas.

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Once rhetoric surrounding a
brewing “carbon trade war” has cooled, non-EU countries are
likely accept charges against carbon emissions on their flights
arriving in and departing from the European Union.

Opposed countries including the United States, China and
India are meeting in Moscow this week, disgruntled over the
perceived injustices of the EU scheme which applies a charge on
the entire carbon emissions of flights including those parts
outside EU airspace.

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The argument that renewable
energy should be favoured because it will create “green jobs” -
a view held by environmental groups, policymakers and companies
in the renewables sector – is trumping economic logic and
leaving consumers out of pocket.

Developed countries are overhauling their ageing fossil fuel
energy and at the same time responding to new challenges
including energy security and climate change.