U.K. solar power installer jobs have increased by 75 percent this year as government incentives spurred demand for photovoltaic panels, Solar Century Holdings Ltd. said. The combined number of employees for Solar Century, which builds solar systems for homebuilders Persimmon Plc and Barratt Developments Plc, and 11 companies it works with to install panels has risen to 350 from 200 at the beginning of the year, the London-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. There will be “well over 500 jobs by 2011,” it said. Click here for full story

The Renewable Heat Incentive (proposed April 2011) will be a major focus at EBEC 2010. Under the proposed RHI a new market for Biodiesel will be created as it will can be blended with heating oil to provide a real growth opportunity for the Biodiesel sector estimated at 900 million litres. This will stimulate significant production volumes again in the UK and sustainable growth for the industry as many investors have left this market over the last two years. Click here for full story

Entrepreneur Robin Parker is planning to bring biomass hopeful NET Energy Group to AIM by raising up to £20 million for the company, which he plans in five years to build into a ‘renewable power utility’ using wood pellets to generate 50 megawatts of power a year. Click here for full story

For one heating company, focusing on renewable heating has increased business and prepared it for the continuing rise of the renewables sector. Denis Meehan, managing director of London-based Ecological Heating, has completed all his training with Logic and recognises renewables as a growth industry. “There is a lot of opportunity in this sector, especially with the launch next year of the Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed-in-Tariffs with solar PV, and the grants that are available.” Click here for full story

Adler and Allan recently hosted a ground-breaking biofuels discussion forum at the Fire Service College in Gloucestershire to highlight the issues arising from the potential introduction of bio-components to all elements of the fuel supply chain. The forum covered both national and European legislative changes and the recent and projected amendments to fuel specifications whilst exploring the impact that these changes have on fuel management and housekeeping requirements. Click here for full story

…… Tesco says it has implemented a very efficient ordering system to reduce waste, but what waste there is can be re-used, recycled, or turned into energy. Leftovers fit to eat are distributed to those in need by a charity called FareShare. Waitrose also works with FareShare, says a spokesman, and 115 branches generate renewable energy from food waste. Click here for full story

With an electricity meter that goes backwards and a roof covered in green plants, Tony's Almond's house is no normal home. The house in Welwyn village, just north of London, is actually a green "superhome" - the 50th in a UK-wide network of demonstration eco-homes now open to the public. Click here for full story

Chris Huhne's announcement that local authorities will be allowed to sell electricity to the National Grid is, on the face of it, logical – councils have lots of buildings which could be used for hosting solar panels, for example, and they could make cuts in their CO2 emissions and electricity bills as a result. However, there is a problem. Click here for full story

With a grass roof on the petrol station and a vegetable patch beside the coach park, the concept for Britain's greenest motorway services may seem beset by contradictions. But planners have approved designs for the £35m Gloucester Gateway project which aims to reinvent the motorway pitstop for the carbon-conscious generation….. The car parks have been designed to allow for charging points for electric vehicles and the filling station can be adapted to bio-fuel pumps in the future. Click here for full story

Every window in Britain could potentially be turned into a solar power generator thanks to new technology developed by scientists. The new solar cell technology for harnessing green energy could revolutionise the power industry - and could be available within about five years. Norwegian company EnSol AS has created the unique patented film which they hope could be released commercially by 2016. Click here for full story

Solar panels could be fitted to the roof of every public building and wind turbines installed in hospital car parks under plans for local authorities to earn £100 million a year from generating green electricity. Previously councils were not allowed to make money from installing renewable energy schemes like hydro electric plants on rivers for fear of upsetting the electricity market. But as part of the Coalition's plans to become ‘the greenest government ever’, town halls will be able to profit from 'mini power stations' for the first time. Click here for full story

Householders tempted by a rash of new "solar for free" offers could double their financial savings by paying for the panels themselves, experts have warned. The advice comes as installations of solar photovoltaic panels have exploded in the UK, with the number installed in four months in 2010 more than doubling on the whole of 2009 since a government financial incentive was launched in April. Click here for full story

New Energy Technologies, a wood- chips-to-pellets supplier to the power industry, is planning its debut on the Alternate Investment Market next month to raise £5m tfor new plants. Robin Parker, NET's chairman, said he is bringing the fledgling biomass company to the stock market to raise capital to build the latest wood-generation plants, allowing it to supply local users as well as the UK's big power stations with renewable fuel. Click here for full story

The Microgeneration industry today (6 August) called upon David Cameron to intervene personally to fulfil his pledge to make this “the Greenest Government Ever” as squabbling between Government departments starts to cost jobs and cause investors to flee the UK Microgeneration sector. In an “end of term” report (attached) the Micropower Council highlights how the Treasury is blocking the wishes of Energy and Climate Change Ministers Chris Huhne and Greg Barker to introduce a key policy that will encourage millions of householders to install renewable heating or hot water. The report also highlights how the civil service machine has caused Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government to break the law, as well as ignoring the publicly expressed wishes of two Ministers. Click here for full story

Some of Shetland’s rarest plants are being saved from possible extinction with the help of a new wind turbine. The 15 metre high 6KW turbine was formally launched at Shetland Amenity Trust’s horticultural unit at Staney Hill on Friday morning. The unit propagates and grows plants that are either native to Shetland or do well in the local climate. It is also undertaking important biodiversity work to preserve some of the islands’ rarest flora. Click here for full story

ABB has helped a European renewable energy company develop an award-winning wind turbine for urban environments that helps make towns and cities more sustainable and consumers more energy efficient. Designed and manufactured by quietrevolution of the U.K., the QR5 wind turbine has already won eight awards and nominations as well as the attention of the world media, including the BBC, CNN, Financial Times and MSNBC….. quietrevolution approached ABB at an early stage of product development for advice and guidance on an electrical solution for this potentially revolutionary wind turbine. Click here for full story

UK company HomeSun is offering free solar panels to homes with south-facing roofs in return for receiving the Government’s feed-in-tariff. The company says it will provide and install 2.5 kWh- 4 kWh systems, which typically cost £11,000-15,000 for free on homes with optimally sited and sized roofs. Households will be able to benefit from the free electricity generated to lower their household energy bills, while HomeSun will receive the feed-in tariff over its 25 year guaranteed lifetime. Click here for full story

An inn constructed on a building burned down by government soldiers hunting Bonnie Prince Charlie is using renewable power. Lochaber's Glenuig Inn has been fitted with solar panels to heat water and makes greater use of daylight to illuminate rooms. Heat generated from cooling equipment is also recycled. Click here for full story

The U.K., known for rain and gray skies, enjoyed record installations of solar panels in July after the government guaranteed prices for electricity from renewable energy up to 10 times market rates. Click here for full story

Consumers are encouraged to install solar panels as the UK and Spain become the fastest-growing markets for photovoltaic technology in 2010. The United Kingdom will become the fastest-growing market for photovoltaic (PV) installations in 2010, according to a July 30 report from market intelligence group iSuppli. iSuppli estimates that the UK will install PV systems amounting to 96 megawatts (MW) throughout 2010, representing an increase of 1,500 percent from 2009 where the total installation of PV systems was 6 MW. Click here for full story

The Prince of Wales is to install new equipment such as solar panels in his home in order to illustrate the benefits of energy-saving technology to UK residents. Clarence House, which is the future monarch’s London home, will install 32 photovoltaic panels on the 19th century building which will generate 4,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Click here for full story

The Government has given the go-ahead for a large expansion in bioenergy power projects across the UK: removing a key obstacle to financing projects by guaranteeing levels of support under the Renewables Obligation for 20 years after completion. Projects fuelled by wood and wastes have a crucial role in helping the UK meet its renewable energy targets. There are currently over 5,000 megawatts of dedicated biomass, energy from waste, gasification, pyrolysis and biogas that have been stalled in the development process. Click here for full story

Japan's Sharp Corp is investing almost 4 billion yen ($46 million) at a plant in Britain to double production of solar cell modules to meet growing demand across Europe. Sharp Solar UK, which began making cells at the plant in Wrexham, Wales in 2004, said it was also seeing increased demand from the British market following the introduction of subsidies for renewable energy installations in April. Click here for full story

Out of the frying pan into the Met’s tyres; in a slick operation the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) are recycling waste vegetable oil to power the vehicles which deliver their groceries. The move is part of a drive by the MPS with energy company Convert2Green and 3663 First for Foodservice - which provides the food and catering supplies - to cut emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. Click here for full story

The U.K. government removed an obstacle to financing biomass power plants, which burn living matter to generate electricity, saying it would support the industry through obligations on utilities to use clean energy for the next 20 years. The Department of Energy and Climate Change said it will “grandfather” its backing for anaerobic digestion and energy- to-waste plants. For biomass developers, the government also extended its support to all fuel costs. It initially planned to support only non-fuel costs, including construction. “Today’s announcement will come as a great relief and follows many months of intense discussions between the industry and government,” Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, said in a statement. “This should unlock some 13 billion pounds ($20 billion) of much-needed private investment in the sector.” Click here for full story

Government response to the consultation on grandfathering biomass under the Renewables Obligation. This provides the certainty that investors have been looking for for electricity from dedicated solid and gaseous biomass, energy from waste, anaerobic digestion and advanced conversion technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis. Support will be fixed for 20 years, subject to the 2037 end date of the RO. Also published today are proposals for robust and credible standards to ensure that the biomass used for electricity generation in the UK is sustainable, delivering real carbon reductions and increased energy security. Click here for full story

When the Empire State Building was opened on 1 May 1931, having been designed in two weeks and built in an astonishing 15 months, it instantly became a symbol of human fortitude in the face of the Great Depression. Now its current owners are attempting to reinvent it for the modern era by turning it into a green building symbolising human ingenuity in the face of inertia. Click here for full story

Calor Gas, traditionally known as an LPG supplier to rural communities and caravanners, is making a push into the low carbon energy sector. The company has been involved in talks with the Department for Energy and Climate Change to explain the potential for Calor in the new energy landscape with the emphasis that liquid propane gas (LPG) is "the cleanest fossil fuel available to rural communities". Click here for full story

Sustainable power business ENER-G will double the size of its office accommodation and boost manufacturing space by 25% with a new 12,500 sq ft building at its global headquarters in Greater Manchester. The £2m building, scheduled to open in December 2010, is under construction on an adjacent site to ENER-G House in Daniel Adamson Road, Salford. Click here for full story

Norway has topped a global list of countries working towards zero carbon buildings for the second year in a row. Brazil came second and the UK took third place in the 2009 RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Global Zero Carbon Capacity Index written by professor Yvonne Rydin, co-director of the University College London's Environment Institute. Released today (July 19) and based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data, the index covers 34 countries around the world and aims to measure the progress of countries towards creating zero carbon built environments (following a pilot last year). Click here for full story

Viridor chief executive Colin Drummond loves rubbish. There's a very good reason why: the waste arm of £2bn utility company Pennon is paid both to take it away and to sell it on after processing – either as electricity or recycled material…. From the noise surrounding wind farms and newer technologies like anaerobic digestion, many would assume that Britain gets most of its renewable energy from these sources. In fact, about the same amount of electricity sent to UK homes currently comes from incineration as wind farms – around 1.5pc. And waste bosses like Mr Drummond want to see 6pc come from incineration by 2015 and up to 20pc by 2020. Click here for full story

‘Permitted Development Rights for Microgeneration Equipment on Non-Domestic Properties’ - This Scottish Government consultation invites views on what the thresholds might be for microgeneration equipment on non-domestic properties and is the latest stage in fulfilling the requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Introducing the proposals would remove the need for a planning application to be submitted for the equipment falling within the thresholds. [scroll down to find].
Click here for full story

Cornwall, the region in the far southwestern corner of England that is associated for many with images of cream teas, fishing boats and childhood seaside holidays, now appears set to lead the UK into new territory: solar farming. According to Ray Noble of the Renewable Energy Association, more than 40 planning applications are about to be submitted for ground-mounted PV systems up to 5 MW in size in this county alone. And the new feed-in tariff – introduced in April this year – will ensure that they generate not only power, but a steady stream of income. Click here for full story

He was once the world's most ruthless and notorious oil baron. But now JR Ewing has turned his back on black gold to spend his retirement selling eco-friendly solar panels. Almost two decades after hanging up his trademark 10-gallon hat when the long-running TV drama Dallas came to an end, the American actor Larry Hagman is reprising his most famous role in an advertisement for a German company. The oil industry, he says in the commercial, became "too dirty", prompting a search for another money making opportunity. Click here for full story

Phosphorous is an essential nutrient for plant growth, along with nitrogen and potassium. It is a key component in DNA and plays an essential role in plant energy metabolism. Without it, crops would fail, causing the human food chain to collapse. Phosphate production is predicted to peak around 2030 …… The solution could lie in recovering phosphate from organic waste that currently ends up being sent to landfill. …. The coalition government has already pledged to lead the UK towards a zero-waste economy, and a development programme of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants is a major step in that direction.…… Chambers is now urging the government to stimulate rapid investment in technologies such as AD plants that will enable phosphates to be reused in agriculture, rather than sending a finite resource into landfill. Click here for full story

Climate change minister Greg Barker was last night (July 12) forced to respond to allegations that the government has missed its deadline for introducing permitted development rights - which remove the need for a planning application - for micro-wind turbines and air source heat pumps. During the Micropower Council's summer reception in London, which was timed to coincide with the government's launch of the new Micropower Strategy for consultation yesterday, the chief executive of the Council, Dave Sowden, began his speech with a scathing attack on the government for "breaking the law". Click here for full story

The UK government has announced that it is drawing up an action plan to deliver a “huge increase” in anaerobic digestion (AD) projects, and is inviting input from stakeholders on how this can be done in a cost-effective way. Click here for full story

Two educational establishments have reached the top of the class for energy performance by using renewable ground source energy. St John’s College, Oxford, and the new Ynysowen Community Primary School in South Wales, will reap major financial and environmental benefits from ground source heat pump technology from ENER-G. Click here for full story

Communities could become more self sufficient in heat and power, and local councils will be allowed to benefit financially from generating green power under new proposals announced recently by Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. Empowering communities to generate their own energy on a large and a small scale can not only bring in an income but also help save money on fuel bills and increase domestic energy security. Click here for full story

Churches and mosques could raise up to £34 million a year by installing solar panels on their roofs, an electricity supplier has claimed. British Gas urged religious groups to make the most of the new feed-in tariff, a scheme that pays households and organisations for electricity from their small-scale generators. Click here for full story