Bremen-based AN has 1,300 wind power systems with a combined capacity of around 1,300 megawatts and employs some 200 people, Siemens said in a statement.

AN’s capacity represents around 8 percent of the total in Germany, the world’s biggest wind market by installed capacity.

The company is a close partner of Bonus Energy, the Danish wind-energy firm Siemens bought last year.

"With the acquisition of this company we want to further expand our market share in Germany," Siemens Power Generation unit head Andreas Nauen said in the statement.

The global wind power market is seen growing by around 17 percent annually on average in the coming years as governments increasingly rely on an expansion of wind energy to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warning.

Siemens said it already had approval from German anti- trust authorities and could close the deal by the end of the year.

"We need to study all existing possibilities if we want to reach the 10 percent target," said a spokesman for oilseed growers’ group FOP, which, with its financial arm Sofiproteol, owns over half of Diester Industrie, France’s main biodiesel producer.

France plans to raise biofuels’ share of the market to 5.75 percent by end-2008, seven percent by end-2010 and 10 percent by 2015, becoming Europe’s top producer in the next five years.

Industry players have welcomed the targets, but say the long-term goals may be a struggle.

To reach the seven percent target, the grain and oilseed area devoted to biofuel output will have to increase tenfold to three million hectares.

Biodiesel makers, which mainly use rapeseed, say one way to meet the targets would be to use small amounts of used cooking oil and animal fat but warn that France lags other countries in developing the necessary technology.

"Their development has already started in Germany, Austria, Italy or Spain," said Etienne Poitrat, an engineer at the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME).

"They are cheap raw materials we mustn?t disregard, but it is important to refine them properly," the FOP spokesman added.

Diester Industrie joined forces earlier this month with US- based multinational Bunge to create Diester Industrie International, grouping the companies’ biofuel assets elsewhere in Europe.

Bunge’s Italian subsidiary Novaol has experience in new oil processing techniques and has been turning 50 percent of cooking oil used in McDonald’s restaurants in France into biodiesel since 2003.

The other 50 percent is bought by Vital, a German biodiesel manufacturer specialising in blending.

NEW INITIATIVES

More biofuel projects involving such alternatives are starting to emerge in France.

"It’s a great time to get into that kind of business," said Jean Quentin, who has set up Gazoleo, a firm aiming to produce up to 100 million litres of a five percent ether derived from animal fat and 95 percent diesel mix, w?ich could keep 100,000 cars on the road for a year.

"Animal fats as well as animal by-products are wasted right now because they have been banned from animal feed since 1996 due to the mad cow crisis," he said.

"The second project is by French oil giant Total and has good chances of succeeding," Poitrat said, referring to the firm’s plans to build a 200,000-tonne biodiesel production unit using a mix of vegetable oils and animal fats.

"The unit should be built in France and should participate in the government’s aim to reach the 5.75 percent biofuel share in fuels by the end of 2008," he added.

"We will pursue ambitious targets for the further expansion of renewable energy," it said in a draft deal between the country’s two main parties obtained by Reuters on Friday.

That means Germany will stick to its target of ensuring renewable sources make up at least 20 percent of the country’s overall energy requirement by 2020, a goal outlined by the previous Social Democrat (SPD)-Greens government.

Germany’s two largest parties — the SPD, the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) — are hoping to reach a power-sharing accord by Nov. 12 after a hung parliament in last month’s election.

However, under a draft coalition deal, changes to the promotion of wind, hydro or solar power co?ld only take effect from 2008. The idea of limiting the promotion of renewables has also been ruled out.

"Germany will continue to take a leading role in national and international climate protection," the draft document said.

The conservatives had been cool towards tight environmental targets, but the SPD is set to be in charge of the environment ministry under a "grand coalition" of the two parties.

The parties envisage increasing the level of support provided to make buildings more environmentally friendly to 1.5 billion euros ($1.82 billion) from 360 million euros per year.

The draft also outlines the likely next government’s hope of preventing German companies making windfall profits from trading carbon dioxide emission certificates from 2008.

Firms received pollution rights from the government for free this year. The rights, in the form of certificates, can be traded.

The draft says Germany will support the European Commission into its investigation of how air transport can be incorporated into emissions trading.

It also says the future German government will consider making it necessary for auto fuels to contain some more environmentally friendly ingredients, such as ethanol, and that the agriculture sector’s use of such fuel could be promoted.

The leading lights of the so-called "solar nanotechnology" revolution are companies like Nanosys and Nanosolar, both of Palo Alto, California, and Konarka of Lowell, Massachusetts. Engineers at these companies have created prototypes of thin rolls of highly efficient light-collecting plastics for spreading across rooftops or embedding in building materials in order to power heating, cooling and other electrical needs within. Company executives claim that once they can mass-produce these products, consumers will be able to generate all their power from the sun while only spending about as much as they do today for non-renewable energy.

While these companies and their investors are hesitant to prognosticate about when their technologies can be rolled out widely, they have intimated that mass production facilities could take five years or more to set up properly. But while these technologies might not be ready for primetime yet, many of the same venture capitalists who bankrolled the tech run-up during the 1990s are banking on solar this time around.

"The market is obviously huge, demand is huge. Besides, [alternative energy] is imperative in the world we live in," said Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital, a Silicon Valley venture firm whose partners got rich on investments like AOL, Ebay and Palm Computing. Still, these investors know that solar nanotechnology is not a sure thing, with long production cycles and issues of manufacturing purity presenting long-term challenges. But as the casualties mount in Iraq and oil companies get ready to dig into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more and more forward thinking investors are hitching their wagons to the dream of solar nanotech.

[i]Reporting by Roddy Scheer[/i]

The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament strongly welcomed the adoption today of a report on energy efficiency that included mandatory targets for energy savings, and urged the Council to also endorse such targets.

Speaking immediately after the vote took place in Strasbourg, Greens/EFA Group energy coordinator and MEP for Luxembourg, Claude Turmes, said:
"The EU is facing an energy crisis. But more importantly our planet’s entire climate system is at stake. With today’s vote, all of the Parliament’s political families demonstrated the importance of putting efficiency at the heart of European energy and climate policy."

The European Commission conservatively estimates that, ?without reducing comfort or standards of living, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by at least one-fifth at no extra net cost ? and in many cases negative costs?. The technical potential could be as high as 40%. The Parliament, in its vote today, requires member states to save, on average 1% of its final energy consumpt?on in the next three years. This increases to an average obligatory target of 1.3% for period 2009-2012, and 1.5% for 2012-2015.

Commenting on the targets, Turmes added:
"While we warmly welcome the results of the Parliament’s vote in favour of targets, we believe that there is huge existing energy efficiency potential still untapped. Although I am disappointed that MEPs did not follow our Group’s more ambitious proposals, we strongly call on the Council to stop simply paying lip-service and join us in adopting these obligatory targets."

"Saving energy is a win-win situation. It addresses climate change and the security of energy supply. It helps to create jobs and boosts innovation and the transfer of technologies. We should challenge the Council, and the EU Presidency, to understand these benefits and move towards ambitious mandatory energy saving targets."

But cut to the present and Ballard?s stock is down from an all-time high of $140 per share in 2001 to just $6 and change these days. Investors, said Ballard President Dennis Campbell, have been ?discouraged by the long wait? and ?seduced by the lure of an easier solution to the energy and environmental challenges that we face.?

Meanwhile, FuelCell Energy?s stock has lost 80 percent of its value in the same time period. Investors who poured money into these companies on the heels of the dot-com crash hoped they would take profits to the bank in short order. But with major automakers and power producers reticent about implementing fuel-cell technology for mass consumption without reliable and convenient methods of hydrogen refueling and generation available, the revolution is taking much longer to materialize than anyone predicted. And many frustrated fuel-cell investors looking for quick profits have bailed as a result, leading to the sector?s collective NASDAQ plunge.

Competing Renewables

Meanwhile, the increasing development of wind and solar power is giving fuel cells a run in the race to dominate the burgeoning alternative-energy sector. ?The challenge is that most of the technologies are still emerging, and it?s unclear which of several competing technologies?fuel cells, solar, biomass?are going to win,? says green business pundit Joel Makower, who researches clean energy technology through his firm Clean Edge. ?In addition, these companies? stocks are subject to the vagaries of global politics, federal funding, oil prices and all of the usual stuff that jiggles stocks.?

Rona Fried, president of SustainableBusiness.com, the leading web portal for green business information and networking, agrees with Makower?s assessment. ?Fuel-cell stocks are very speculative,? she says. ?Investors should know they are making a bet when they buy into them. The people I know putting money into these stocks are buying only very tiny amounts.?

Meanwhile, some bold individual investors are unfazed by the risks of getting into fuel cells now. Charles Kirk, author of the popular financial weblog known as the Kirk Report, points out, ?Many times the best time to buy these stocks for long-term holdings is after Wall Street finally grows tired of them and throws in the proverbial towel.? Kirk adds, ?The fact that everyone now hates [Ballard Power stock] and clearly has doubt regarding its future has finally made me interested in buying it.?

Follow the Money

One way investors can get in on the game cheap but still hedge their bets is by piggybacking on the investment decisions of larger traditional companies. For instance, Ford and DaimlerChrysler together own more than a third of Ballard Power (19 percent and 17 percent respectively), which practically ensures that Ballard?s products will find their way into new cars at some point in the future. Also, rumors abound that the automakers want to take over Ballard outright, which would be a boon to investors who get in before any such mergers happen.

Another solid indicator of long-term success is the existence of real revenues today. Ballard brought in more than $89 million last year primarily through the licensing of its vehicular and portable fuel cells, while stationary fuel-cell maker FuelCell Energy topped $30 million in revenues through its operation of 23 power plants throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. Many of the analysts who now view Ballard as yesterday?s news are still bullish on FuelCell Energy?s business model and operational expertise.

Perhaps the moral of the story is that green inves?ors looking to cash in over the long haul might want to consider buying some of the more respected fuel-cell stocks now, as their share prices are at historic lows yet their prospects remain solid. While fuel cells will no doubt be challenged as the dominant alternative energy technology, their widespread application and low environmental and economic cost may well make them a key player in the future energy spectrum, if only investors can wait that long.

by Roddy Scheer

? Switch to compact fluorescents for your five most-used lights. Yes, compact fluorescents are initially more expensive ($2 to $20) than conventional incandescent bulbs, but some utilities subsidize them and the remaining extra cost is worth it. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a single compact fluorescent will shave $60 off your energy bill in its lifetime and keep a half ton of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The federal Energy Star program notes that if every household in the nation switched five bulbs, we could shut down 24 power plants. Compact fluorescent bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy and last six to 10 times longer than conventional bulbs?not a bad return on your small investment!
? Insulate your windows. If you don?t have double-pane windows and can?t afford to install them, consider putting up plastic. Window plastic comes in kits ($4 to $6 per window) that are available at most hardware stores, and can be installed easily. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the pocket of air created between the plastic and the window serves as insulation, reducing heat loss by 25 to 50 percent.
? Don sweaters and fuzzy slippers. Before turning up the thermostat, ask yourself if you might be just as comfortable putting on some layers. The DOE calculates that your energy bill will go up three percent for each degree you raise the thermostat. Remember that tightly knit clothing is warmer than loose-knit, and wool is warmer than cotton.
? Use hot water efficiently. Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators?you?ll use less water, so you?ll have to heat less water. The DOE notes that a low-flow showerhead reduces the amount of water you must heat by 20 gallons, without reducing the quality of your shower. A $10 to $20 showerhead will pay for itself within three or four months. Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible and use the washer only with a full load. Keep your water heater set between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
? Watch your appliance use. Everyday appliances siphon huge amounts of energy off the grid, but those with Energy Star ratings use 10 to 50 percent less energy than standard models. When cooking, the NRDC advises consumers to ?resist the urge to open the oven door to peek?each opening can reduce the oven temperature 25 degrees.? Efficiency Vermont suggests keeping refrigerators at 36 to 38 degrees, and freezers at zero to five degrees. Unplug televisions when not in use, as they will continue to draw power even when switched off. Computers should be set to ?hibernate? when abandoned temporarily.
? Use blinds and curtains wisely. In the winter, open window coverings during the day to let in solar radiation and shut them at night to keep the heat in. Emulate the pioneers by only exposing south and west-facing windows. In the summer, apply this principle in reverse. Keep windows shaded during the day to keep the heat out.
? Pay attention to your thermostat. The NRDC recommends setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter, and dropping it down to 55 degrees when you are asleep or are away from the house for more than a couple hours.
? Stop drafts in windows and under doors. The Utah Department of Natural Resources suggests you can reduce your energy bill by 10 percent by ferreting out and sealing up air leaks. The DOE advises consumers to ?pay special attention around windows and where siding or bricks and wood trim meet.? Caulking, sealant, and weather stripping will do the trick and are available at most hardware stores. Cute little draft blockers can be had at most craft fairs.
? Close doors and vents to unused rooms. Many of us live in houses with more space than we need, yet we still spend the money to heat empty rooms. The DOE calculates that, ?by closing the vents to just one spare bedroom in a fi?e-room house, you can instantly cut your heating bills by as much as 20 percent.?
? Use a humidifier. According to the DOE, ?It?s not the heat; it?s the humidity.? Moisture from a humidifier will increase the ?heat index,? making 68 degrees feel like 76. Maintain a relative humidity between 30 to 50 percent to keep condensation off the windows.

Fannie Mae, the Congressionally chartered company that works with lenders to back mortgages for low and moderate income Americans, is the prime mover of ?green? mortgages through its Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) program. To qualify for the program, homeowners must either buy a new energy efficient home, or commit to upgrades of an existing home as recommended by an inspector certified through the Home Energy Rating System (HERS).

Such HERS inspections can run as much as $400, but the projected savings from energy efficiency are considered part of the borrower?s income and can help homebuyers qualify for larger mortgages. By increasing borrowing power, the EEM allows homeowners to fold the costs of energy efficiency into t?e total mortgage amount. Factors such as window efficiency, heating and cooling system efficiency, wall-to-window ratios, insulation levels and local climate–even the solar orientation of the home–determine a home?s HERS rating.

In a home that needs energy improvements, the HERS report will suggest specific improvements and estimate both the cost of the improvements and the expected energy savings. The cost of the energy improvements can be included in the homeowner?s mortgage, but is limited to 15 percent of the home?s value.

A borrower opting for new construction can qualify for an EEM if the home in question is to be built according to guidelines set by the Energy Star Builder Option Program, a project of the Environmental Protection Agency to encourage energy efficient building and design. Once construction on the new home is complete, a HERS inspection is conducted to determine the home?s energy efficiency, which will in turn dictate the specific terms of the EEM.

Eligible borrowers can obtain an EEM backed by Fannie Mae with as little as a three percent down payment. Detailed requirements for EEM qualification are available on the Fannie Mae website, which also posts a list of participating lending institutions from coast-to-coast.

MacLeod is a big man, but he has plenty of headroom inside Hull Wind I, whose 164-foot-tall tower casts a shadow over the football field at Hull High School. A ladder at ground height leads straight up into blackness. The room is full of the computers that operate the turbine, lots of important-looking controls, and an "emergency stop" button we visitors have to be careful not to bump.

A digital readout offers the speed of the 154-foot-diameter rotor (28.7 revolutions for minute) and the turbine’s generated power since it was installed in December of 2001: 5,052,741 kilowatt hours. That’s in excess of five million kilowatts, more than enough reason for Hull to hold a celebration honoring the turbine. The town is so pleased with its wind power generation that it’s adding a second, much bigger unit.

MacLeod gestures out past Windmill Point across the bay, with the city of Boston visible in the distance. "We intend to have 100 percent renewably generated powe? in Hull," he said. "Our next step is the installation of a 1.8-megawatt turbine at the town landfill, which we hope to have up and running by the end of the summer. Then, by 2008, we want to install four offshore turbines totaling 12 megawatts."

There are 40 towns in Massachusetts that have municipally owned electric utilities, a situation that is ideal for public wind power. Towns like Hull can generate a kilowatt of electricity for 3.4 cents, but because of production tax credits and tradable renewable energy certificates (RECs), it takes in 6.3 cents. "It’s a cash cow," MacLeod said. The electricity generated goes straight into the town’s own grid, replacing power that would cost eight cents per kilowatt hour if it were purchased in the energy market.

"We get the financial benefit, plus because it’s a green source of energy the turbine becomes a focus of goodwill for the town," says Hull selectwoman Joan Meschino. Everyone in town will tell you that the wind turbine has not killed a single bird, at least according to the regular checks by the town’s science students. Neighbors are supportive, too, and you can hardly hear the turbine even when you’re standing right under it.

Given the numbers, it’s not surprising that many towns in the state are looking at municipal wind power. Also visiting Hull was Kevin Greely, a member of the town of Arlington’s board of selectmen. Arlington, near Cambridge and 26 miles from Hull, has hillsides that supporters think can generate enough wind to support a turbine. "It’s impressive what they’ve done here in Hull," Greely said. "We want to move forward, and our next step is a wind analysis to see if a project is feasible."

Bill Ford, manager of Ipswitch’s municipal electricity plant, says his town has already done a wind assessment, and results showed promising 11.5-mile-per-hour winds. The town is planning to install a 1.5-megawatt turbine, with operations set to begin in 2006. "I’ve gotten nothing but positive comments on our website and from people who stop me on the street," Ford said. "Dozens have come up to me to say they’re supportive." His experience is in sharp contrast to the reception shown the 130-turbine offshore Cape Wind Project. In Hyannis, a vocal group of opponents under the banner of the well-heeled Alliance to Save Nantucket Sound is pulling out all the stops. The alliance has powerful allies in Senators Ted Kennedy and John Warner, Governor Mitt Romney, and other prominent politicians. Lawsuits are planned if the Army Corps of Engineers grants Cape Wind an operating permit. That process was recently delayed even further, since the Environmental Protection Agency has called for additional environmental review. The first report is "inadequate," argues the agency.

The Hull project would never have happened were it not for the dedicated work of volunteers Andrew Stern (who passed out t-shirts and buttons that read "Hull-E-Luia! I Visited the Windmill in Hull, Mass.") and Malcolm Brown, a retired philosophy professor and member of the Hull Municipal Light Board. Brown sums up what makes Hull Wind work: "The Hull experience shows it is easier to win approval for wind projects if the benefits are enjoyed close to home, flowing to the local residents transparently and directly. This way the project is ours, not theirs. We’re the investors and we’re the beneficiaries."

The grant is funded through the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund and financed by the Government of the UK.

"The potential for solar energy development is huge, not only generating electricity but also for water pumping for water supply and small scale irrigation, provision of potable water, hot water for homes, hospitals, and other buildings," said Ali Azimi, an ADB Senior Environment Specialist and mission leader for the project.

More than 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas and depends on traditional fuels for cooking and water heating, and kerosene for lighting. This is having an adverse impact on forests and watersheds. Most of Afghanistan’s 25 million people have no access to modern forms of energy, such as electricity, gas, and liquid fuels.

The grant should demonstrate how solar energy could be used to enhance the quality of life for low-income communities living in remote villages with limited to no prospects for grid electricity. It would also show how a community-based approach could lead to the success of such programs.

Estimates indicate that solar radiation in Afghanistan averages about 6.5 kilowatt- hours per square meter per day. Lighting provided by solar energy could be used in the running of literacy and other courses in the evenings that would benefit children and adults who work in the fields during the day. Solar-powered pumps would provide irrigation for agricultural production, which is the livelihood of 85 percent of the people in the country. This is important both for increasing incomes and for enhancing food security for vulnerable families.

"Rural electrification is the only way that most of the populace can move toward attaining energy security and enhancing social welfare," Azimi said. "The remoteness of rural locations and the topography of the country would make the expansion of elect?icity supply in remote areas through a centralized grid system difficult, and may not be economically feasible. The long-term objective of the TA (technology assistance grant), therefore, is to lay the foundations for sustainable dissemination and use of solar systems in these areas."

The grant should provide solar photovoltaic systems at household level in 10 communities on a pilot basis and train 10 persons from different ethnic groups as solar technicians at a community based training center in India. Upon return they will train 10 additional persons from their communities in installing and maintaining solar systems as energy entrepreneurs.

Specifically targeted are the poor, illiterate, and vulnerable and the primary beneficiaries will be those with no formal education, especially disabled people, youth, and women. In particular, disabled people who were maimed in years of conflict could be associated with the initiative by including them among these "barefoot" technicians.

Such marginalized people would be trained to design, install, and service these systems while capacity would be developed in the public sector to promote, monitor, and evaluate system performance. The technology assistance grant will also provide the policy framework for expanded use of solar photovoltaic systems.

The Ministry of Water and Power is the executing agency for the grant, which is due for completion in December 2006. The Afghan Government is contributing $150,000 equivalent toward the total project cost of $900,000.