Features for September 2015

Features Archive

Offshore wind playing a lead role in the UK’s green energy transformation Offshore wind playing a lead role in the UK’s green energy transformation

With lifetime costs for offshore wind having fallen by 11 per cent in the last four years, Dong Energy's Brent Cheshire looks at the future potential for further reductions and the critical role the industry has to play in the UK's energy mix.

Field to fuel: A biobased economy for a post-petroleum industrial society Field to fuel: A biobased economy for a post-petroleum industrial society

Jan Koninckx, Global Business Director for Biofuels at DuPont Industrial Biosciences, discusses the company's pioneering work in the development of biorefineries and the production of fuel fit for the 21st century.

Next generation batteries will power up the energy storage industry Next generation batteries will power up the energy storage industry

The race is hotting up this year, particularly in the US, to develop a new generation of batteries that will make grid storage of power from renewable sources a realistic proposition.

Materials innovations for more efficient wind turbines Materials innovations for more efficient wind turbines

Dr John Conti-Ramsden and Dr Kirsten Dyer discuss the opportunities and challenges in the material design of blades for the latest breed of wind turbine, increasingly used in more hostile locations.

Forecasting for success in onshore wind power Forecasting for success in onshore wind power

In the first of a series of exclusive articles for Renewable Energy Focus, Patrick Sachon, Head of Renewables at the Met Office, explains the crucial role that forecasting plays in the onshore renewable wind energy market.

Avoiding a big bang for your buck Avoiding a big bang for your buck

Unexploded ordnance presents an on-going challenge for offshore renewable energy project developers and getting it wrong can be expensive. With new guidelines on UXO management set to be published, best practice means a better understanding of the risks.

India: Realising its potential India: Realising its potential

The BJP’s general election victory in 2014 triggered hopes that in BJP leader Narendra Modi, India may have the renewables champion to help it realise its vast potential. A year on, Rachel Parkes looks at how India’s renewables market is developing.

Gasifying sludge and slurry: Europe’s circular economy in action Gasifying sludge and slurry: Europe’s circular economy in action

Research from Outotec and Stuttgart University, supported by KIC InnoEnergy, shows that green energy and nutrient recovery provide powerful incentives to explore and commercialise innovative solutions for processing and converting Europe’s sludge and slurry mountain, as Dr Dominic Buchholz explains.

Keeping the industry’s environmental promise Keeping the industry’s environmental promise

2013 was a boom year for the industry’s commitment to sustainable lifecycle management. Pia Alina Lange reviews our commitment to sustainable waste management and PV CYCLE.

Energy production: Is short-termism damaging our planet? Energy production: Is short-termism damaging our planet?

Lydia White ponders whether the very nature of our democratic societies stands in the way of a genuine move to a renewably-powered world.

Microwave potential for bioenergy production Microwave potential for bioenergy production

Despite investigations of microwave heating and biomass conversion, large-scale application of microwaves is very limited. Future industrial deployment of microwave technology depends on the understanding of the heating mechanism and the scalability options, as Dr Beatriz Fidalgo Fernandez explains.

Air quality: The devil you don’t see Air quality: The devil you don’t see

With one in eight deaths globally related to air pollution, investing in clean energy solutions is the healthy dose of medicine the world needs to alleviate social and economic burdens on families and national states alike, while powering a sustainable future, suggests Henri Winand.

Industrial symbiosis: Building on Kalundborg's waste management experience Industrial symbiosis: Building on Kalundborg's waste management experience

The small Danish city of Kalundborg is a leading light for effective industrial waste management, as Stefan Gulipac explains.