Britain

Part Two

A Norwegian group led by wind turbine company Sway AS and funded by the Norwegian government and industrial pillars of that country’s economy is in the lead to build the first operating prototype of a 10 megawatt (MW) wind turbine. 

Fifty-eight days into the BP Deepwater disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, tensions are mounting between the U.S. and Britain, home to BP’s headquarters. 

Iceland recently came one big step closer to making the innovative “Energy for Debt” plan a reality, when the country’s voters rejected a referendum to pay back debt incurred by the country’s privatized bank Ices

Jet fuel is responsible for upwards of 40 percent of an airline’s operational costs, making this industry particularly sensitive to volatility in the oil market. 

News from America captured most of the headlines this week.  In particular, minds across the globe were fixated on President Obama's State of the Union address and Macintosh's unveiling of the très chique iPad.  Both of these events had clean energy implications, as you will soon find out.

For the last two weeks much of the world has been caught up in the happenings of the largest international conference on climate change ever held.  Since the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen is stealing all the headlines, most people, with the exception of the super infatuated clean-techies, have missed out on the latest developments in the clean energy universe.

The world’s biggest burger, biggest car and biggest loser are all made in America.

Danish utility company, DONG Energy --in the past more known for its oil pursuits--brought its Horns Rev 2 offshore wind farm online this last week.

In his 2003 State of the Union address, George Bush said “that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.” Electric vehicle advocate Paul Scott replied that if battery electric technology had been fully exploited for transportation, the first car driven by a child born during the Civil war would have been powered by a battery.

According to the UK's Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA), Britain has managed to keep up with its biofuel goals during their first year of implementation. While on the surface this appears to be a good thing, a more in-depth look reveals that the numbers may be somewhat skewed.