Latest tech news from Europe

• South Korea’s Hanwha buys German solar business

  Category: Energy, Solar PV
  Further 200 jobs to go at Q-Cells as Asian companies buy western rivals amid strong competition from far east renewable energy firms.

• Wind power study says opponents’ claims are unfounded

  Category: Energy, Wind Power
  Report from thinktank IPPR says wind power is an efficient and reliable energy source, contrary to claims made against it.

• GreenTechEurope.com backed by the Renewable Energy Association

  Category: Energy
  The Solar Trade and Renewable Energy Associations backed the promotion of GreenTechEurope.com last week, as they inlcluded essential information for prospective GTE profile users in their newsletters. Their combined readership totals several thousand, and hopefully this exposure will help swell the number of our site users and viewers.
  

• How boat engineering is keeping hydrogen power hopes buoyant

  Category: Energy, Hydrogen, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Hydrogen Vehicles
  
  The Ross Barlow looks like a traditional canal barge, built 100 years ago to be drawn by a horse, travelling at the same speed as modern diesel engine vessels.
  

• SolarEdge Wins the Prestigious Intersolar 2012 Innovation Award

  Category: Energy, Solar PV
  SolarEdge Technologies, a leading global provider of end-to-end solar power optimization systems and monitoring solutions, announced today that it has received the 2012 Intersolar AWARD for Innovation in the Photovoltaic category.

• City investors are getting cold feet about Arctic oil prospecting

  Category: Energy, Emission control
  
  As well as the environmental and ethical argument against oil drilling in the Arctic, some investors say it is too risky to back.

• Desert renewables plan ’would cut EU’s power bill by $42bn’

  Category: Energy, Solar PV
  
  June 21 2012: Europe would save €33bn ($41.9bn) a year on its power bill by 2050 by moving towards the bulk importation of renewable power from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a new study claims.

• As Europe Slashes Subsidies, Renewable Energy Developers Move Into New Markets

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Wind Power
  30 May 2012; Forbes
  
  Spain’s moratorium on new green tech subsidies and the prospect that other budget-stressed European governments will slash incentives for solar and wind projects have roiled a once-rich market for renewable energy companies but will have little impact globally as developers move into Asia, Latin America and South Africa, according to analysts and executives.
  

• Mission Growth: Europe at the Lead of the New Industrial Revolution

  Category:
  29 May 2012; Europa.eu
  
  Europe's economy cannot survive in a sustainable way without a strong and profoundly reshaped industrial base.
  

• American Companies Beating Europe to First Commercial CCS Plant

  Category: Carbon separation, Carbon sequestration, Carbon capture, Carbon storage
  29 May 2012; Bloomberg
  
  Companies in the U.S. and Canada are likely to beat European rivals in building the first large-scale project trapping carbon dioxide to sequester underground, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
  

• Last Weekend, Half of Germany was Running on Solar Power

  Category: Energy, Solar PV
  28 May 2012; TreeHugger.com
  
  German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity – equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity – through the midday hours of Friday and Saturday.
  

• Official: UK’s green goods and services grew £5.4bn last year

  Category: Energy, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  25 May 2012; BusinessGreen.com
  

  Sector valued at £122bn, employs almost one million people and generated a trade surplus of £5bn, according to government figures.

• EU moves to sink shipping sulphur emissions

  Category: Emission control, Environment (Other)
  24 May 2012; BusinessGreen.com
  

  Dramatic cuts for sulphur content in marine fuel promise to save €30bn in health costs.

• EU confronts post-2030 renewables policy vacuum

  Category: Energy, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  22 May 2012; EurActiv
  
  The EU is facing an energy policy vacuum after a firm set of policy goals for renewable energy, carbon cutting and energy saving expires in 2020.
  

• Merkel Tightens Grip on Energy Overhaul as Progress Lags

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Wind Power, Nuclear
  21 May 2012; Bloomberg
  
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel is tightening her grip on the biggest energy overhaul in the country’s history, assigning a party enforcer to speed the transition amid signs her 12-month-old policy shift has stalled.
  

• Europe’s eco-chip project has 10% energy-cut target

  Category: Environment (Other), Sustainable Design
  21 May 2012; ElectronicsWeekly.com
  
  Thirteen European semiconductor manufacturers have set out a 'green' target to cut their industry energy and water consumption footprint by 10%.
  

• 15 Concepts and Solutions for Providing Clean Drinking Water

  Category: Water, Water production, Water disinfection, Filtration
  18 May 2012; Treehugger.com
  
  From low-tech to high-tech, concepts and solutions for providing clean drinking water are everywhere.
  

• Emissions drop 2% because of Europe’s trading scheme

  Category: Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  16 May 2012; Energy Live News
  
  Greenhouse gases from power plants and manufacturers in Europe’s emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) dropped 2% last year.
  

• Energy’s copper bottom future

  Category: Energy, Wind Power, Smart meter/grid
  14 May 2012; BBC News
  
  It's previously been better known for its prawns and haddock. And now it's where technology, the economy, the environment and politics meet, on the bed of the North Sea between Peterhead and Bergen.
  

• US ahead of Europe on energy policy

  Category: Energy
  13 May 2012; Financial Times
  
  

  Europe’s manufacturers are rapidly losing ground to US rivals because of soaring energy costs and the failure of the continent’s governments to be “rational” about nuclear power and shale gas, the head of one of the world’s biggest chemicals groups has warned.
  

• A Tale of Two Strategies for Energy M&A

  Category: Energy
  09 May 2012; The Wall Street Journal
  
  Risk aversion is pulling different areas of the energy sector in opposite directions, as far as mergers and acquisitions are concerned, according to two industry surveys published this week.
  

• Most UK water companies not required to cut leaks before 2015 despite drought

  Category: Water, Leakage detection
  07 May 2012; Guardian
  
  More than half of water companies will not be required to reduce their leakages by a single drop before 2015, despite the worst drought in 25 years.
  

• Electric vehicle charging gets a jolt with a $47.5M investment

  Category: Alternative Fuels & Transport, Electric vehicle, Recharger
  07 May 2012; VentureBeat
  
  As electric vehicles gain popularity in the automobile market, EV charging station manufacturer Coulomb Technologies has raised $47.5 million in fourth-round funding.
  

• PwC: Insurance firms stepping up interest in wind farm investments

  Category: Wind Power
  07 May 2012; BusinessGreen
  
  Insurance companies are stepping up their interest in European power and renewable energy assets, according to new analysis of the first three months of 2012 by consultancy PwC.

• Demand for offshore wind aided by rising fossil-fuel prices

  Category: Wind Power
  04 May 2012; MarketWatch (WSJ)
  
  Electricity to power European televisions and toasters will increasingly come from energy generated at sea as utility companies shore up offshore wind-energy capacity amid rising fossil-fuel prices and political pressure.
  

• German solar market battles on despite subsidy cut warnings

  Category: Energy, Solar PV
  03 May 2012; Blue & Green Tomorrow
  
  Some 650 megawatts (MW) of new solar capacity was installed in Germany in January and February – almost double the amount during the same period in 2011.

• The surest electricity investment? Cables

  Category: Energy, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  02 May 2012; Reuters
  
  The electricity transmission sector has escaped the kinds of competitive pressures stalking energy supply technologies, offering investors less risky, solid growth, but they require massive expansion and upgrade projects that often face delays.
  

• Is employment in the renewable energy sector set to rocket?

  Category: Energy, Alternative Fuels & Transport
  01 May 2012; London Loves Business
  
  As Britain attempts to increase its renewable energy output by 2020, can the UK match the growth with skills?
  

• Farms Offer New Market for Renewable Energy

  Category: Biogas, Food production
  30 April 2012; SustainableBusiness.com
  
  Farms are a new market for renewable energy systems, which are using them to lower costs, reduce their carbon footprint, and to increase their ranking as sustainable suppliers.
  

• GE’s Power Conversion Technology Drives Innovative ‘Pumped Storage’ Hydropower Project in Portugal

  Category: Hydropower
  30 Apr 2012; The Financial
  
  With more European countries harnessing their hydropower resources to stabilize their transmission grids and support greater alternative energy production, GE Energy’s Power Conversion business announced it will supply its advanced power conversion technology to Voith for the new Frades II pumped-storage hydropower plant.
  

• Renewables in Wales worth half a billion but skills shortage hampers growth

  Category: Energy
  26 Apr 2012; Western Mail
  
  Renewable energy companies in Wales are worth more than half a billion pounds and employ nearly 5,000 people, according to a new report from the sector’s industry body.

• South Korea and the U.K. plan to exchange technology and develop expertise in nuclear, wind and other renewable energy, the South Korean government said.

  Category: Energy, Wind Power, Nuclear
  25 April 2012; Bloomberg
  
  South Korea and the U.K. plan to exchange technology and develop expertise in nuclear, wind and other renewable energy, the South Korean government said.

• Merkel To Meet Power Companies On German Energy Future

  Category: Energy
  24 April 2012; Fox Business
  
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has invited the country's four main utilities to a May 2 meeting to begin hashing out how best to fill the void in its future energy capacity, a year after she decided to rapidly shift away from nuclear power.
  

• Iceland Wants To Build The World’s Biggest Underwater Cable To Export Geothermal Energy

  Category: Geothermal
  23 April 2012; Business Insider International
  
  Iceland has become the leading exporter of geothermal expertise. Unfortunately exporting the energy itself has proved more difficulty – geothermal energy can't be shipped as easily as oil.

• Green tech could mean global climate deal is not needed

  Category: Energy, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Water
  19 April 2012; PublicService Europe
  
  Despite some recent procedural progress towards a global climate agreement, it still seems clear that the political obstacles towards negotiating such a deal of sufficient depth and scope are huge - and potentially insurmountable. Yet, at the same time that global action has been slow, there has been a wealth of activity undertaken by countries and regions in the area of promoting renewable electricity technology.

• European Wind Sector Grew Twice as Fast as EU Economy

  Category: Wind Power
  18 April 2012; Cleantechnica.com
  
  In the midst of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) annual conference, EWEA has released data showing that in recent years the European wind energy industry has grown twice as fast as the EU economy as a whole.

• Solar wars hot up as Europe reacts to Chinese competition

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Solar Thermal
  18 April 2012; Energy & Environmental Management
  
  While Germany reduces support for its solar industry, which it has subsidised for years, Italy and France are increasing theirs, as Europe fights back against Chinese competition.
  

• Gas ’fracking’ gets green light

  Category: Gas
  17 April 2012; The Guardian
  
  Ministers have been advised to allow the controversial practice of fracking for shale gas to be extended in Britain, despite it causing two earthquakes and the emergence of serious doubts over the safety of the wells that have already been drilled.
  

• Europe shows modest growth in renewables

  Category: Energy, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  16 April 2012; UPI
  
  Investments in Europe's clean energy sector grew a modest 4 percent in 2011 but it remained the globe's top destination for such dollars, a new report says.

• Solar companies warn against ’dangerous’ tariff talk

  Category: Solar PV, Solar Thermal
  16 April 2012; EurActiv
  
  Unpredictable cuts to Europe's feed-in tariff schemes for solar energy threaten the recession-hit renewable sector with disaster, the head of the solar industry’s business association has told EurActiv.
  

• EU carbon trading system needs major overhaul, says Deutsche Bank

  Category:
  13 April 2012; Platts
  
  The EU Emissions Trading System needs fundamental reform if it is to be capable of sending a long-term price signal for low carbon energy investment, Deutsche Bank said in a report Friday.
  

• Italy: Fifth Conto Energia to come into effect when €6 billion ceiling reached

  Category: Solar PV
  12 April 2012; pv magazine
  
  The Italian government has announced that the country’s new renewable energy law, Conto Energia V, will come into effect when the €6 billion photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) ceiling is reached – expected to be between this July and October.

• IBM and ZSE Create Virtual Green Highway for Electric Vehicles

  Category: Electric vehicle
  11 April 2012; The Financial
  
  IBM announced it has teamed with Západoslovenská energetika, the largest distributor and supplier of electricity in Slovakia, on a smart energy “feasibility” study that will help prepare the capital city Bratislava for electric vehicles.

• £2m Panasonic fuel cell research centre for Cardiff

  Category: Alternative Fuels & Transport, Fuel cell
  10 April 2012; Walesonline.co.uk
  
  A new fuel cell research and development centre is to be created in Cardiff as part of a £2m investment by Panasonic. The move was part of a package of £200m of deals announced today as Prime Minister David Cameron visited Japan.

• EDF, Alstom win bulk of French wind farm tender

  Category: Energy, Wind Power
  6 April 2012; Reuters
  
  State-owned utility EDF in partnership with Alstom has won the bulk of France's first offshore wind farm tender, which is designed to kick-start the sector in the country, Energy Minister Eric Besson said on Friday. The wind power projects would help France close a gap in renewable energy capacity behind other large European countries, as well as reduce its dependence on nuclear power.

• £20m UK wave energy competition unveiled

  Category: Wave/Marine
  05 April 2012; The Guardian
  
  Companies making devices that generate renewable energy from the ebb and flow of tides and waves around the UK could win a share of a new £20m government prize. Ministers believe wave and tidal power could in the future generate up to 20% of Britain's energy needs and create 10,000 jobs in the sector.

• Transforming energy: flexible, printed-plastic solar panel project kicks off

  Category: Solar PV
  4 April 2012; Nanowerk
  
  Transforming how and where we harvest power is essential for meeting the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy. One alternative energy source is printed-plastic solar technology: a new EU-funded project that has just got under way aims to advance this innovative technology, and design advanced flexible plastic solar panels that can be integrated into new consumer mobile applications and buildings.
  

• EU carbon target threatened by biomass ’insanity’

  Category: Biomass
  2 April 2012; The Guardian
  
  The EU's emissions reduction target for 2020 could be facing an unlikely but grave obstacle, according to a growing number of scientists, EU officials and NGOs: the contribution of biomass to the EU's renewable energy objectives for 2020.
  

• Iceland: The next data-centre hub?

  Category: Geothermal, Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Design
  2 April 2012; The Economic Times
  
  Iceland, housed in a former NATO air base, a new $700 million data center is waiting to host the world's information. Tapping into a ready supply of geothermal energy and cool temperatures, Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, a former banker and the country's first billionaire, is trying to capture a slice of a rapidly growing market: green data centers.
  

• A blow for UK nuclear strategy but not a meltdown

  Category: Nuclear
  29 March 2012; The Guardian
  

  On Monday a cabinet minister will attend a significant nuclear announcement: not the opening or building of a new plant, though; the UK's biggest ever contract to demolish one. It is tempting to portray the event to mark the final closure of Dounreay as symbolic after the announcement on Thursday that the two German energy companies E.ON and RWE were pulling out of one of the country's biggest nuclear building projects, the second such decision in recent months. But are commentators right to suggest the country's policy has been plunged into disarray?

• Denmark aims to get 50% of all electricity from wind power

  Category: Wind Power
  26 March 2012; The Guardian
  
  The Danish government has stepped up its green energy and carbon reduction targets for 2020, hailing the plan as the "broadest, greenest, and most long-term energy agreement" it has ever reached. The deal aims to see Denmark cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels and decrease energy consumption by more than 12% compared to 2006.

• Shale Boom in Europe Fades as Polish Wells Come Up Empty

  Category: Energy, Gas
  26 March 2012; Bloomberg
  
  Europe’s best hope for a shale-gas boom is fading as explorers in Poland confront rising taxes, a lack of rigs and rocks that are harder to drill than expected.
  

• Award-Winning German Development Aims To Be ’The World’s Most Sustainable Neighborhood’

  Category: Water, Environment (Other), Sustainable Design
  24 March 2012; TreeHugger
  
  Economically depressed and the site of a tragic school shooting in 2009, the small German suburb of Winnenden didn't have much appeal despite its low home prices and proximity to Stuttgart. But an award-winning eco-friendly development is turning the town in a new direction.
  

• Germany’s $263 Billion Renewables Shift Biggest Since War

  Category: Solar PV, Wind Power, Nuclear, Gas
  19 March 2012; Bloomberg
  
  Not since the allies leveled Germany in World War II has Europe’s biggest economy undertaken a reconstruction of its energy market on this scale. Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to build offshore wind farms that will cover an area six times the size of New York City and erect power lines that could stretch from London to Baghdad. The program will cost 200 billion euros ($263 billion), about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2011, according to the DIW economic institute in Berlin.

• PV Cycle: Significant increase in collected end-of-life PV modules

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Recycling
  15 March 2012; RecyclingPortal
  
  PV Cycle today announced that it will close the first quarter of 2012 with more than 1,000 tonnes of collected end-of-life PV modules. Compared to previous years, this is a significant first quarter performance and demonstrates the capabilities of Europe’s only collective take-back and recycling program for PV modules.

• European Solar Days events expect more than a half-million participants

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Solar Thermal
  14 March 2012; EnvironmentalExpert.com
  
  Hundreds of thousands of European citizens will gather at events across the continent to show their support for solar energy during European Solar Days (ESD), demonstrating the huge potential contribution of solar toward meeting EU energy goals. The events, which will take place in hundreds of locations from Tuesday, 1st May to Sunday, 13th May, have been designed to help audiences including European policy makers and companies, but particularly individual citizens, to understand the benefits that available solar technology offers them today.

• Solar, Wind, and Biofuels Markets Rise 31 Percent to $246.1 Billion Despite Ongoing Economic Turbulence

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Wind Power, Biofuels
  13 March 2012; E.on & Clean Edge Inc.
  
  Clean-energy markets continued to expand rapidly in 2011, even against a tough economic and political climate, increased industry consolidation, and downward pricing pressures on manufacturers. Combined global revenue for solar PV, wind power, and biofuels rose 31 percent over the prior year, growing from $188.1 billion in 2010 to $246.1 billion last year, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2012 report issued today by clean-tech research and advisory firm Clean Edge, Inc. The bulk of this expansion came from double-digit growth rates for both wind and solar deployment globally.

• Environmental Mandates Enforcing Wastewater Treatment To Benefit The Market For Moving Bed Bioreactors

  Category: Water, Water disinfection, Wastewater treatment,
  13 March 2012; Water Online
  
  Global Industry Analysts, Inc. announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Moving Bed Bioreactor markets. World Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR) market is projected to reach US$1.0 billion by the year 2017. Growth will be primarily driven by stringent regulations governing discharge of wastewater into the environment and the growing need for more effective removal of pollutants. Expanding end-use applications into municipal drinking water treatment, fish farming, and treatment of animal wastewater, bodes well for the future of the market.

• Growing Out Of Greek Debt With Green Tech

  Category: Energy, Solar PV, Solar Thermal
  7 March 2012; Forbes
  
  After a painfully rough year stuck between international creditors and an increasingly frustrated and desperate electorate, Greece’s leaders have now tried to shift attention towards finding a way to help grow the country out of its current economic hole, including sprawling renewable energy projects. At the heart of all of this is the country’s access to the European Union’s development fund, offering potential billions to infrastructure and construction projects that won’t figure into the country’s bailout arrangements.

• Floating Wind Turbines May Be Coming Soon to a Beach Near You

  Category: Energy, Wind Power
  08 March 2012; Cleantechnica.com
  
  Offshore wind turbines are placed to take advantage of strong, steady coastal winds. Their placement is in one way ideal – dependable energy, and lots of it – but it’s also not exactly easy to build a turbine tower in several feet of moving water. The current standard solution is to build big solid platforms that “trick” the turbine into thinking it’s still on land, but it’s not a perfect solution.
  

• Mercedes-Benz cloaks an F-Cell

  Category: Alternative Fuels & Transport, Hybrid vehicle, Fuel cell
  04 Mar 2012; CNET
  
  To make a statement about its upcoming fuel cell vehicle's zero carbon footprint, Mercedes-Benz decided to cloak an F-Cell to make it seem invisible.
  

• Scotland funds small green technology

  Category: Energy, Wind Power, Hydropower, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  02 March 2012; UPI
  
  The more than $5 million available in research funding would help Scottish businesses develop low-carbon technology, the Scottish government said.
  
  

• IEA (Finally) Acknowledges Ascent of Renewable Energy Market

  Category: Energy
  28 Feb 2012; Forbes
  
  The IEA was founded after the 1973 oil shock and has been criticized in the past for its lack of attention to renewables, so this announcement marks a coming of age of the renewable energy sector. The IEA’s new report on renewables will join its existing annual medium-term reports on oil, gas and coal.

• Geoengineering: quick climate fix or dangerous meddling?

  Category: Environment (Other), Geo-engineering
  2 March 2012; Public Service Europe
  
  It appears to be a dream scenario, a quick fix for global warming without all the inconveniences and lifestyle changes that emissions reductions demand. But despite the obvious temptation to try anything to undo the impact of man-made climate change, geoengineering – the deliberate manipulation of the climate by, for instance, extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or reflecting the sun's energy away from the earth – has not yet been embraced.

• Green economy’s neglected stepchild?

  Category: Energy, Carbon & Energy Efficiency
  27 Feb 2012; Greenbang
  
  Is efficiency becoming like the weather, in that everyone talks about it but nobody does anything about it? Europe has ambitious 2020 climate and energy goals — a 20 percent reduction in primary energy use, a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions and 20 percent of energy coming from renewable sources — but it isn’t improving as much as it should be in some areas. That’s particularly true when it comes to making buildings more energy efficient, which is all but a no-brainer for better sustainability.

• GTE Newsletter: Renewable Biomass Fuel w/ Primus Green Energy

  Category: Biomass, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Biofuels
  Primus Green Energy is a US-based biofuel company that uses waste wood streams and energy crops like Miscanthus to produce a high-octane gasoline that requires no further refining. Their expansion model is based around local sources of biomass within a 50-mile radius. Primus also has the potential of producing petrochemicals such as xylene and toluene, as well as diesel and the components for jet fuel.

• GTE Newsletter: Hydrogen Refuelling Systems w/ ITM Power Plc.

  Category: Hydrogen, Alternative Fuels & Transport, Hydrogen Vehicles
  ITM Power’s Transportable Hydrogen Refuelling Station, HFuel, provides on-site hydrogen fuel production and distribution through combined electrolysis, storage, and fueling applications. The system is based around a modular platform (standard freight containers) and can be expanded at any point after the initial installation, enabling a staged roll-out of hydrogen fuel.

• GTE Newsletter: Smart Metering w/ Atos Worldgrid

  Category: Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Smart meter/grid
  Atos Worldgrid provides Smart Energy solutions across the oil & gas, power, and water sectors. Operating in over 15 countries, with a unique full-service approach, Atos Worldgrid offers the efficient management of data generated all along the industry value chain. They recently deployed “Linky”, the world’s largest smart metering system to date.

• GTE Newsletter: Algae Biofuel w/ Origin Oil

  Category: Alternative Fuels & Transport, Biofuels
  OriginOil is a critical technology player in the mid-stream algae-production process chain. Their technologies are designed for all algae-based applications, including fuels, pharmaceuticals, foods, or fertilisers. Recently, OriginOil has been focusing on developing on-site bio-crude capabilities for algae growers. Their products, The Algae ApplianceTM, is a harvesting technology already proven to be scalable and verstile for algae oil production.

• GTE Newsletter: Smart Grids w/ ECI Telecom

  Category: Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Smart meter/grid
  ECI Telecom is a manufacturer and provider of network solutions and professional services. In recent years, ECI has become a pioneer in smart grid technologies and operations. Two if ECI's main product lines for smart grids are their line of carrier Ethernet switch routers and BroadGate® data transport products, optimized especially for utilities.

• Largest EU ports support moves on sulphur

  Category: Scrubber, Emission control
  15 March 2012; Port Strategy
  
  Three major European ports, Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam, have said they are satisfied with the European Parliament’s ‘sulphur emissions’ resolution, which goes beyond the IMO regulations.
  

• UK to launch £13m Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage research

  Category: Carbon capture, Carbon storage
  03 April 2012; ClickGreen
  
  The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change(DECC) today announced a £13 million investment to establish a UK Carbon Capture and Storage(CCS) Research Centre.
  

• Lanxess launches two brackish-water RO elements

  Category: Desalination, Electrodeionisation
  30 March 2012; D&WR
  
  Two reverse-osmosis (RO) elements based on polyamide thin-film composite membranes have been launched by German chemicals company Lanxess. The Leverkusen-based company, spun off from chemical giant Bayer in 2005, is promising to add other element types soon to its product range, which already includes ion-exchange resins.
  

• Cambridge CleanTech company ‘homes’ in on Series A cash

  Category: Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Smart meter/grid, Leakage detection
  11 April 2012; Business Weekly
  
  A Cambridge CleanTech startup is seeking seven-digit Series A funding for innovative technology that promises to revolutionise the intelligent building – smart home – market.
  

• Elster Delivers Polymer Bodied Water Meters to Anglian Water

  Category: Meter
  22 March 2012; Azosensors
  
  

  Elster has achieved a significant milestone by delivering its one millionth polymer bodied water meter for use in the utility market of Europe. This water meter was provided to Anglian Water, which offers water and wastewater services to over six million business and domestic customers in the eastern part of England.