Showing papers in "Refocus in 2006"

TL;DR: In this paper, Dal Ferro et al. discuss the difficulty in balancing industry prospects with the many obstacles along the way of the development of wave and tidal power generation, and highlight the need to be prepared for the unknown.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors report that although the "roughness" of the terrain in urban environments can mean a reduced and more turbulent wind flow compared to open spaces, urban wind speeds increase the further you are from the ground.

TL;DR: In this article, Magda Moner-Girona, Rebecca Ghanadan, Arne Jacobson and Daniel M. Kammen provide an overview of the status of solar home system installation in Africa and highlight the opportunities for cost reductions via local manufacturing.

TL;DR: Becker and Poste as mentioned in this paper describe some of the latest condition monitoring solutions available on the market, which can reduce costly unscheduled machine down time by monitoring key components of wind turbines such as gearboxes.

TL;DR: The authors provides an overview of the past and current situation in this sector and its potential for more widespread adoption in the energy mix and discusses the benefits of using ethanol as a transport fuel.

TL;DR: Markvart et al. as discussed by the authors proposed that microgrids can achieve a good match between generation and load, resulting in a low impact on the electricity network despite a potentially significant level of generation by intermittent energy sources.

TL;DR: Norton and Lo as mentioned in this paper discuss the technical developments in this core component of most solar thermal applications, and discuss how they can be used to improve the performance of solar collectors in a variety of applications.

TL;DR: Indradip Mitra as mentioned in this paper reports that the largest percentage of renewable energy in the energy mix can be found on islands and that they represent quite a big niche market in the world for renewable energies.

TL;DR: The first district heating system was started in France in the 14th Century and it was not until the turn of 20th century when the first use of geothermal energy for electric power production began.

TL;DR: Barratt's EcoSmart Show Village could pave the way to truly sustainable homes becoming mainstream as mentioned in this paper, but it is still just testing the waters and is not yet ready for occupancy.

TL;DR: The California Solar Energy Initiative (CSI) as discussed by the authors is the largest solar program of its kind in the United States and is designed to move the state towards a cleaner energy future while helping reduce the costs of solar electricity for California consumers.

TL;DR: Moutawakkil and Elster as mentioned in this paper proposed a combined AC-DC coupling via an inverter, which has been successfully implemented on a ranch in Greece, where the first successful RE project has been implemented using this innovative concept.

TL;DR: Although in its early stages of growth, Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (OPT), a leading offshore wave power technology developer, has set itself some ambitious plans for the future as Alice Hohler found out when she interviewed Mark Draper, CEO of OPT Ltd as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: The world PV module market is projected to reach 12 to 25 GWp by 2015, unless politically mandated solar programs are implemented to achieve even larger, more energy significant production volume as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: According to a recent survey by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), Germany is by far the biggest market for photovoltaics in Europe as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the issues arising from the connection of wind farms to the grid and propose a solution to solve the challenges of integrating renewable energy sources into the network.

TL;DR: Srinivasan et al. as mentioned in this paper track the supportive measures necessary to incubate, sustain and grow the solar thermal industry at various stages of maturity and prescribes policy measures to mainstream the industry as it attains critical mass.

TL;DR: The UK has set a target to source 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2010 and 15% by 2015 with an aspiration to reach 20% by 2020 as mentioned in this paper, and the Government believes that micro-generation (i.e. under 50kW for electricity) can make an important contribution to this target.

TL;DR: The United Kingdom is the Saudi Arabia of wind energy as discussed by the authors, and the winds that blow across her surrounding seas could supply several times the nation's electricity requirements. But current offshore wind projects are progressing much too slowly.

TL;DR: Sunil Puri, Refocus correspondent in India, highlights the ground-level scenarios, key roadblocks in country-wide rural electrification initiatives, and the government strategies to overcome these roadblocks as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: Hays and Attwood as discussed by the authors report that Asia is playing an increasingly important role in the global wind industry as the region prepares to invest over $12 billion in wind power generation capacity in the second half of this decade.

TL;DR: In this paper, Anne Held and Mario Ragwitz, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research take a closer look at European progress to date, in particular focusing on the feed-in tariff approaches employed by Spain and Germany and how these may be optimized.

TL;DR: De Vos as discussed by the authors discusses the sustainability criteria and the definition of good biomass for green power, bio-energy, and green heat in the EU and discusses some of the issues.

TL;DR: However, to retain the advantage, concludes Bill Butterworth, there is a condition; it is one of closing the loop as mentioned in this paper. But the problem is that the environmental energy equations really do not stack up.

TL;DR: The first city showcase has been confirmed, as Gail Rajgor reports as mentioned in this paper, as well as the first solar city showcase in Australia's solar cities initiative, which aims to demonstrate Australia's belief that solar technologies are at the heart of any strategy to develop sustainable communities for the future.

TL;DR: In this article, Alice Ross reports on two trials in Holland examining whether locals find micro wind generators easier on the eye and whether they can make a significant contribution to offsetting conventional energy consumption.

TL;DR: Mints, associate director of the Navigant Consulting PV Service Program as mentioned in this paper, discusses the potential of getting electricity from the largest source in the solar system, the sun.

TL;DR: Ibiza, a small island in the Mediterranean, has a well-deserved reputation as a party paradise though it is an island also prone to black outs and water shortages.