Africa
The newest report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), in cooperation with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a clean tech analytics firm, shows that the combined impetus of stimulus funding, feed-in tariffs (FiTs) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) generated a record $211 billion globally in 2010 in renewable energy investment.
Mozambique, the southeast African nation once plagued by nearly three decades of civil war, plans to push for the development of renewable energy to provide more of its population with electrical service, according to a new government strategy announced this week (currently, 95% of Mozambicans live without electricity).
Renewable energy and clean technologies could be part of the solution for ending world poverty.
A new study by Friends of the Earth asserts the development of Africa's biofuel sector is leading to a "land grab" by foreign companies at the expense of local communities.
Africa is constantly looking for ways to develop its economies and increase the standard of life for its inhabitants. According to a report by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), growing biofuel feedstocks could be a powerful tool for the continent's economic development.
The petroleum basin off the coast of the West African nation of Ghana, one of the continent's most stable and prosperous countries, has prompted the likes of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) to pursue stakes in regional oil fields.
Foreign energy companies have descended on Ghana, the West African nation that was once the center of the North American slave trade, as it engages in oil exploration and plans start drilling for crude this year, a move its government hopes will help to stamp out poverty.
To get a feel for Morocco's green energy potential, simply stand beneath the sun on the blistering sands of the Sahara Desert or pay a visit to the windswept town of Essaouira, a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast, about a 100 miles west of the storied city of Marrakech. In both places, the former French colony's solar and wind power possibilities are quite obvious.
Helix Wind Corp. (OTC:HLXW) recently announced it will be testing two small vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) to power cell phone towers from Core Communications Group.
