Over 90% of the world’s water supply is under public control, mostly municipal or provincial in ownership. Historically, water and sanitation services were developed by both the public and private sectors. In the last century however, there was a tendency for governments to take over these services, for social and financial reasons. The clock is […]
Power supply shortages are nothing new, and regular occur following extreme weather incidents affecting infrastructure, unexpected increases in power demand such as demand for air conditioning on a very hot summers day and failure of generators, transformers etc. As a result of a lack of power supply following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, […]
Disruption to fuel supplies and shortfalls can occur from natural disasters such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Due to the high degree of uncertainty in predicting natural disasters, the energy market needs to have reserves to meet changing marketing conditions. As of June 2011 the 28 IEA members collectively reported that they […]
China is now receiving more water and waste private investment that any other country in Asia, although its cumulative total of investment is still behind that of Malaysia or the Philippines. By the end of 2011 China has received 87% of the private investment projects in Asia and 32% of the value. 359 PPI projects […]
In Austria, the assets are owned by the municipalities and regional governments, and operations are either conducted directly or by management companies. In Belgium, 6 large provincial inter-municipally owned water companies’ supply 90% of the water; municipalities and communes own small companies. Water management is mostly public, but waste is sub-contracted. The arrangements differ in […]
The incomplete combustion of fuel wood produces organic particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other organic gases. If high temperature combustion is used, oxides of nitrogen will be produced. At a smaller domestic scale, the health impact of air pollution inside buildings is a significant problem in developing countries, where fuel wood is burnt inefficiently in […]
Biomass is a renewable source of energy and its use does not contribute to global warming. In fact, it can reduce the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide as it acts as a sink, and soil carbon can also increase. Of all the forms of renewable energy, only hydropower and wind produce similar amounts of electricity […]
Europe As the largest market in the world, Germany historically has dominated the European market overwhelmingly, with three dominant companies. These were SolarWorld AG, an integrated solar company involved in all steps of the value chain, Q-Cell, a new participant with ambitious plans and Schott Solar (formerly RWE Schott Solar). The solar boom in Spain […]
In 2009 the installed base of solar PV capacity reached 1,642 MW. The USA was the original pioneer of the solar industry, which developed from the NASA space programmes, with the need to invent generating capability of low weight and no fuel. The USA was the first country to develop solar PV seriously and by […]
In the sub-tropics and tropics, jatropha is a very promising biofuels feedstock. It is a wild, non-edible shrub that grows on barren land, and does not compete with food crop production. Its seeds contain large amounts of oil that can be processed into biodiesel, and used as a fuel for jet engines. Extra revenue can […]
