Feature Article

India's prime minister Manmohan Singh has approved a US$19 billion plan to make the country a global leader in solar energy over the next three decades. The ambitious project would see a massive expansion in installed solar capacity, and aims to reduce the price of electricity generated from solar energy to match that from fossil fuels by 2030.

Thumbing their noses at the financial crisis, investors breathe new life into the Indian wind market; new subsidies are poised to take effect, and industry insiders see an upswing in the offing.

The boreal forests of Scandinavia offer a considerable resource base, and use of the resource for the production of less carbon-intensive alternative transport fuel is one strategy being considered in Norway. Here, we quantify the resource potential and investigate the environmental implications of wood-based transportation relative to a fossil reference system for a specific region in Norway.

The Indian energy supply system has risen from a few thousands of kW capacity in the early fifties to 1,47,402 MW and is growing by the year. However the capacity is unable to keep pace with the growth in demand. The Indian wind energy sector is on the growth path aiming to achieve an installed capacity of about 15,000 MW by 2010.

India has been one of the enthusiastic proponents of the need for product certification with regard to wind turbines ever since the technology made its way into the country. One one hand it could be attributed to the influence of Danish turbines which got installed in large numbers as wll as the fact that Denmark was at the forefront in certification of wind turbines.

Building-integrated photovoltaic solutions are still significantly more expensive than traditional on-roof systems, comprising a niche market. But manufacturers are increasingly offering solar modules for facades and in-roof systems. Are we on the threshold of a major new market?

China's wind industry is booming. But manufacturing capacity growth is out stripping the market. The competition is squeezing margins; international providers are falling behind as national champions pull ahead.

A vast supply of energy is racing around the planet far above the surface. Erik Vance meets the engineers trying to bring the power of high-altitude wind down to earth.

Giant wind farms may grab the headlines but plans to develop local off-grid electricity will have bigger impact on Africans and carbon emissions.

Emissions targets, clean-energy projects and calls for justice are multiplying, reports Jeff Tollefson.