Turkey became acquainted with wind energy long time ago. In the Ottoman Empire period windmills were built for grinding grains and for irrigation purposes. There are many sites in Anatolia where windmills had been built and these places are restored and protected. Energy production is the key point in modernization of the nations. By G. Kurtaran, EGERES Enerji Danismanlik Müh. Hiz. Ltd. Sti.

Germany's solar industry has been given a boost after the government said it would scale back the feed-in tariff for solar electricity by only 9-10 percent each year until 2011 much less than the 30 percent scale-back that some industry experts had predicted. By Jane Burgermeister, European Correspondent.

A Collaborative Project of all Parties in Germany and France for Promoting Wind Energy in Both Countries. Current Wind Energy Use Situation in France and Germany. By M. Persem, M. Bahrenberg

The explosion of photovoltaics production across the globe completely reshuffled the top companies in Nomura Securities' annual ranking of the leading companies, knocking long established Japanese players out of the top spots and putting four Asian suppliers in the Top 10. Japan's leading solar companies outline their strategies for this changing market in this report from SST partner Nikkei Microdevices. By Dr. Paula Doe, Contributing Editor, Solid-State Technology.

Rising oil, gas, coal and uranium prices, increasing awareness of the threats of climate change, irresolvable difficulties surrounding nuclear energy, as well as increasing energy demand from emerging and developing countries are only some of the myriad reasons the world is looking into alternative energy solutions. Article by WWEA Secretary General Stefan Gsänger

In the largest field trial of its kind in the United States, researchers have determined that the giant perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus outperforms current biofuels sources - by a lot. Using Miscanthus as a feedstock for ethanol production in the U.S. could significantly reduce the acreage dedicated to biofuels while meeting government biofuels production goals, the researchers report.

At the Berlin Victory Column, Barrack Obama assured his audience that the USA will take climate change seriously in the future. Shortly before that, Al Gore had announced that America could change over to 100 % renewable electricity within ten years – if the political will is there.

In Japan, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been increasing; 6.4 percent more GHG were emitted in 2006 than in 1990. Thus, in order to reach its national commitment under the Kyoto Protocol of "minus six percent," Japan needs to reduce its GHG emissions more than 12 percent.

In just four weeks, its sibling in San Francisco will kick off, “the largest trade event in the United States serving the complete solar energy supply chain,” as the organizers put it. To give U.S. participants a taste of things to come, the CleanEnergy Project asked some of the Munich exhibitors for a brief feedback.