U.S. government says ‘consistent policy’ key to wind energy growth
The wind industry is the fastest-growing source of power in the United States and employs over 80,000 American workers, two new government studies show. “The tremendous growth in the U.S. wind industry...
View ArticleHitting the jackpot with wind energy in Poland
“We feel like we’ve won the lottery.” Mirosława and Mieczysław Horodiuk sit on a couch in their living room, their aged cat stares through the window. Here in Kończewo in north western Poland a late...
View ArticleIKEA ups its wind energy investments
The announced purchase last week of an Irish wind farm by IKEA is just the latest indication that the world’s biggest home furniture company may succeed in its stated aim of becoming totally energy...
View ArticleRomanian monks turn to wind energy
You could call Father Iustin a pioneer. He installed a wind turbine long before the hundreds that you can now see from this hill appeared. He was the first monk in the Constanța region to power his...
View Article67% of Brits favour local wind farms
More than two-thirds of UK citizens support building more wind farms in their immediate areas. The poll, conducted by market research agency ComRes, also shows that only 33% of people support fracking...
View ArticleJobs in UK wind energy climb by 70% in three years
The number of people working in the UK wind industry has risen to 9,900 up from 6,600 by 2010 – a climb of 70% – new research shows. “When indirect employment is included, the report shows a total of...
View ArticleBird charity proposes wind turbine at its UK headquarters
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, is to install a wind turbine at its headquarters. An RSPB press release said the organisation...
View ArticleIPCC: fossil fuels must remain in ground to avoid climate catastrophe
Significant, concerted action is now required to stop the continued growth of toxic greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels, says the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)...
View ArticleCampaign replaces fiction with facts
Think wind turbines cost too much taxpayer money? That the wind farm planned for the neighbourhood will bring down your house price? That you won’t be able to sleep for the noise? The ‘Act on Facts’...
View ArticleWind power could provide up to 18% of global electricity demand by 2050
Wind generation now meets a significant percentage of electrical demand globally and last year the world added a record 44.8 gigawatts (GW) of wind power, bringing the total to more than 282.5 GW,...
View ArticleFloating offshore wind turbines could drive Japan’s green energy future
Less than three years after the disaster at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, a hotly-anticipated floating offshore wind turbine began operating 20 kilometres from the damaged site on Monday. A...
View ArticleUN conference overlooks the rising power of wind and other renewables
Another annual United Nations conference on climate change has ended and international negotiators once again failed to agree to a new treaty on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from burning...
View Article2030 renewables target: Germany gets on board
The issue of 2030 renewable energy and climate targets – will we have them? How many? – has been gathering momentum in the press and media lately. The upcoming proposal from the European Commission –...
View ArticleEU offshore wind has a bright future, EWEA conference track chairs agree
The next two years will be critical to further establishing and expanding the European offshore wind sector, especially in Britain and Germany, one of the track chairs at the recent offshore conference...
View ArticleNew EU funding available for the growing wind power industry
Interest in the ambitious EU research programme Horizon 2020, which begins in January and is open to different aspects of the wind power sector, continued to build last week in Brussels during a...
View ArticleAn industry-wide gathering: EWEA 2014 Annual Event approaching
EWEA expects thousands of people from all across the wind energy industry to attend its upcoming Annual Event, which it will be hosting at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via from 10-13 March. The EWEA 2014...
View ArticleEnergy a hot topic in the media following Commission’s 2030 framework...
Last week, the European Commission released its communication on a 2030 climate and energy framework including targets, initiating a dramatic spike in both positive and negative media coverage of the...
View ArticleIs Europe’s energy policy undermining its competitiveness?
– Renewable energy CEOs discuss with journalists – Wednesday 12 February 2014, 10:30-12:00 plus lunch, Brussels – Press member? Register now by contacting Sarah Azau: sarah.azau@ewea.org Two weeks...
View ArticleEnergy prices have limited impact on competitiveness
Energy prices have only minimal impact on Europe’s economic competitiveness, new research reveals. While some commentators have used the need to stay competitive as an argument against a strong 2030...
View ArticleFuture of Europe’s energy discussed by industry leaders at 2030...
CEOs of six leading European energy companies voiced their support for a strong 2030 climate and energy framework at a EuropeBusiness press conference on Wednesday 12 February. As stated in a...
View ArticleOne thousand European cities call for 30% renewables target
Over 1000 European cities have written a joint letter to European Council president Herman Van Rompuy to call for a 30% renewable energy target for 2030, alongside a 40% energy efficiency target. On 22...
View ArticleWind energy is Spain’s number one electricity provider
In 2013 Spain achieved a world first – it became the only country in the world where wind energy was the leading electricity supplier over a whole year. The Spanish electricity system operator, Red...
View ArticleWind turbines produce high energy outputs for 25 years, study finds
Wind turbines are proving they can operate effectively for 25 years. That means a single wind turbine has a lifespan similar to that of solar panels and gas turbines, and nearly one-third that of human...
View ArticleNinety percent of Europeans want 2030 renewable energy target, EC poll shows
Ninety percent of Europeans say their governments must set targets to increase the amount of renewables in the energy mix by 2030, according to a survey by Eurobarometer – the European Commission’s...
View ArticleWind energy’s triumph in Spain is being ignored by the government
In 2013 wind power was the leading source of electricity in Spain, but wind energy is facing huge regulatory hurdles – the latest of which will be discussed in detail at EWEA 2014 in Barcelona on...
View ArticleEWEA 2014 opens its doors in Barcelona
The months of anticipation are finally over – EWEA 2014 opens its doors for business in Barcelona this afternoon! Headlining later today at the opening session will be Artur Trindade, Portuguese...
View ArticleIEA executive director: “We welcome a renewables target for 2030”
The International Energy Agency (IEA) supports an EU renewable energy target for 2030 – this would reduce policy risk and so “bring down costs and put us on the path we want to be on”, stated Maria van...
View ArticleTop wind industry award goes to Mainstream chief Eddie O’Connor
The wind energy industry’s prestigious Poul la Cour prize was awarded this afternoon to Airtricity and Mainstream Renewable Power founder Eddie O’Connor. “This year, the award goes to someone who is a...
View Article“I was the biggest polluter in Ireland”
Eddie O’Connor, Irish wind energy entrepreneur and visionary – and winner of this year’s Poul la Cour prize for excellence in the field of wind energy – spoke to Sarah Azau at EWEA 2014 in Barcelona...
View ArticleWhere will wind energy be in 2020?
In five or six years’ time, the wind energy sector will see an end to regulatory uncertainty, increasing levels of consolidation within the industry and leaps ahead in technology – said CEOs speaking...
View ArticleWind energy is a “massive new paradigm of employment”
Wind energy can create hundreds of jobs as part of a new climate change-aware world, said Eddie O’Connor, founder and CEO of Mainstream Renewables. O’Connor described this point in time as a “massive...
View Article“Fossil fuel subsidies distort the market”
Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven, talked to Sarah Azau at EWEA 2014 Annual Event in Barcelona about power markets, subsidies and the Crimea. Will the Crimean...
View ArticleCost reduction is one of the biggest challenges facing wind sector, says...
Cost reduction is the one of the biggest challenges facing the wind energy industry today, according to Dave Jones, head of renewable energy at Allianz Capital Partners. Speaking in a conference...
View ArticleWater used for EU power production equivalent to annual consumption of Germany
Nuclear, coal and gas plants in Europe use 4.5 billion m³ of water a year, equivalent to that of 82 million EU citizens – the same as the population of Germany – new research shows. Energy production...
View ArticleEWEA 2014: the event round-up
New markets, technological breakthroughs and an end to political uncertainty – that’s just three of the advances the wind energy sector is expecting in the coming years, revealed industry leaders at...
View ArticleDo wind farms really send house prices down?
The debate about wind turbines and property prices blows on, pushed back into the headlines every so often by a gust from a new study or piece of research. The latest studies on the subject, from the...
View ArticleIPCC: fossil fuels out, renewables in to tackle global warming
Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in the coming decades is the International Panel for Climate Change’s (IPCC) recommendation in its latest report. This...
View ArticleFrance: wind energy solution in energy transition
France may be the world’s most nuclear energy dependent country, but times are changing. When French President François Hollande took the reins of power in 2012 he pledged to reduce the country’s...
View Article“Subsidies to renewables are the most transparent and visible”
By Zoë Casey From direct government support to tax breaks and the cost of negative externalities like pollution, subsidies to the power sector take many different – and often hidden – forms. In fact,...
View ArticleEurope can be role model for renewable energy at United Nations Climate...
By Thomas Becker The economic and political winds of change for Europe’s energy security are in full flow. With Ukraine on the brink of civil war and an IPCC report calling on the world’s governments...
View Article80% of Brits support renewable energy
By Zoë Casey If you are a follower of the press and politics in the UK you might be forgiven for thinking that the country is against wind energy – but a new survey proves exactly the opposite. The...
View ArticlePrice of cutting power sector emissions hits $44 trillion
By Sarah Azau Those in favour of less fossil fuels and more renewable energy have long pointed out that delaying the shift to green power is pushing the price tag up. But the latest research from the...
View Article“Boost energy independence with higher renewables targets”, associations tell...
Increasing renewable energy can relieve Europe’s reliance on fossil fuel imports at volatile prices and protect it from geo-political instability like the ongoing Ukraine crisis. That is according to...
View ArticleMillions of workers call for climate action
Last week more than 50 unions representing millions of jobs worldwide joined the Unions4Climate action network calling for a global agreement on climate change in Paris at the UN climate summit next...
View ArticleUS and China to cut power plant emissions
The US is arguably still the most powerful country in the world, but it has always dragged its feet on climate action. So when the US Environmental Protection Agency announces carbon emissions cuts of...
View ArticleDonate to charity? Buy lemon pie? What would you do with €2?
Thomas Becker would buy subscriptions to two more daily newspapers, Lasma Livzeniece would donate to animal shelters in Latvia, and Jason Bickley would treat himself to a slice of lemon meringue pie –...
View ArticleLarge international gathering attends EWEA’s summer reception
EU officials, parliamentarians, high level wind industry professionals, as well as many representatives of renewable energies in Europe lent a buzz to the EU quarter last week at the EWEA summer...
View ArticleTop EU journalists join EWEA trip to Portugal
With its staunch commitment to wind energy and calls for an ambitious 2030 renewables target, Portugal represented an ideal European location for EWEA to host its annual press trip in 2014. We invited...
View ArticleWhere will wind energy be in 2020?
Wind energy has sailed through stormy waters when it comes to politics in recent years. Since 2009, European governments across the continent have been chopping and changing their support schemes for...
View ArticleEWEA Blog closed indefinitely
Our sincerest apologies, but as from 2015 the EWEA Blog will no longer be active or maintained. Please visit our news, activities, events or social networks pages to see our latest activities. The post...
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