clean energy

With United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appearing to have decided green policy, or rather, anti-green policy should be used to rally voters to his party’s bid for re-election this year – and with the opposition Labour party vacillating over a promise to spend £28 billion ($35 billion) per year on green investment – Adam Swarbrick, of RWE Renewables UK, gives an update on the prospects for United Kingdom solar.

A latecomer to the European PV party, Romania’s embrace of clean energy means it is perfectly placed to ride the wave of urgently ramped grid investment being rolled out by the European Union.

With so much of the space in United States cities allocated for parking, the dual pronged approach of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – production tax credits to drive investment in domestic manufacturing and investment tax credits to attract consumer-side investment – means solar canopies can make a huge contribution to the net zero drive.

In the land of a thousand lakes and long, harsh winters, a surprising gold rush is under way – not for precious metals but for sunlight. Finland, often associated with its stunning natural landscapes, has become an unlikely contender in the global renewable energy market, particularly in the realm of solar power.

As the world’s solar manufacturers continue to ramp up production at an eye-watering speed, a cell connection technique up to 10 times faster than the industry standard holds rich promise, according to Keven Tremblay, from Canadian laser process specialist Laserax.

Across Africa, rooftop solar is stepping in to fill the void as fears of non-payment and inflation-reduced donor funding dampen enthusiasm for big solar. Commercial and industrial (C&I) arrays are leading the charge, driving consolidation in markets overstocked with startup and mid-size installers.

As the cost of generating clean energy continues to fall, producing green hydrogen in Europe, rather than importing it from Africa – with all the transport costs and raised carbon footprint that would entail – is beginning to look like an increasingly viable option.

Will a redeployable solar and energy storage solution be the answer to unreliable grid electricity across much of Africa, as its developer proposes? Or will it merely be a temporary solution that will see cash-strapped utilities kick the can of universal energy access further down the road?

Europe awakened to its energy dependency on Russian gas as the Russia-Ukraine conflict unfolded and the war has pushed the European Union to accelerate its energy transition. Italy could play an important role.

Warnings about the need to decentralize Ukraine’s electricity grid, made 10 years before the Russian invasion, fell on deaf ears at the time. In the wake of war, nations across Eastern and Central Europe are alive to the risks embodied in traditional energy networks.