http://www.ecn.nl/ News and press releases en TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:36:00 +0100 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/12/03/mwt-on-the-eve-of-mass-production/ 4th MWT Workshop held in Amsterdam MWT (Metal Wrap Through) technology is ready for the move from lab to fab. That was the main message from the 4th MWT Workshop, held in Amsterdam on November 20-21. Over 170 participants from all over the world joined the 2-day workshop held last week in Nemo, Amsterdam. The workshop was hosted by ECN. Relevant equipment manufacturers, materials suppliers, and the world’s major PV producers including Canadian Solar, Yingli and Tianwei presented their latest... Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:36:00 +0100 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/11/29/set-aside-can-have-substantial-budget-effects/ As of 2013, about half the carbon emission allowances for the energy companies and industry will be auctioned instead of being freely granted . The Netherlands can also auction a part of these allowances within the European emission cap. Because of the current recession there is a surplus in emission allowances and therefore the price of the allowances is very low at the moment. The European Commission has proposed to temporarily remove an amount of these emission allowances from the market, as... Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:41:00 +0100 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/11/01/dutch-16-renewable-energy-target-requires-additional-offshore-wind-farms-and-additional-deployment/ The additional 2.4 billion budgeted for renewable energy by the new Dutch Rutte II cabinet should be sufficient to realise 16% renewable energy in 2020. This calls for a balanced development of renewable heat, green gas and renewable electricity. The previous cabinet focused on renewable heat as a cost-effective technique. If the new cabinet is also able to create the right preconditions for deployment of additional wind energy and additional biomass co-firing in coal-fired plants, this would... Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:39:00 +0100 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/10/22/unprecedented-global-partnership-launched-to-champion-green-growth/ The Green Growth Best Practice Initiative (GGBP) was launched last week. Designed to help governments strengthen the quality of green growth planning and implementation through analysis and peer-to-peer learning, the initiative is set to drive progressive green policy-making around the globe. Within this initiative, ECN leads the activities on one of the three work streams: planning processes and stakeholder support. ECN provides outreach and assists with the preparation of companion products... Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:18:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/10/10/ecn-assists-vcs-in-technology-due-diligence/ ECN Technology Due Diligence is a new service by the renowned Netherlands based clean tech institute, tailored to international venture capitalists in the clean tech area. Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:39:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/10/04/worlds-major-pv-solar-industries-at-the-4th-international-mwt-workshop/ How to achieve materials innovations and cost reductions to move from laboratory to mass production in solar energy as soon as possible? This is the main topic at the international 4th MWT Workshop on 20 and 21 November 2012 in Amsterdam.The world’s major PV industries and leading R&D institutes will present the latest trends and achievements on metal-wrap-through (MWT) cells and modules. This year, other routes will also be put into the spotlights, in a session about back-junction... Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:08:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/10/03/european-maritime-spatial-planning-needed-to-facilitate-large-scale-deployment-of-offshore-renewable/ Delivering power from offshore renewable energy - wind, wave and tidal - in European sea basins will require more integrated and cross-border maritime spatial planning (MSP). This could be achieved through a new directive on MSP. Such a directive could require legislation in Member States without being prescriptive on form and content, and lay a foundation for increased cooperation on MSP through flexible, regional actions. This is one of the key recommendations of the EU-funded project... Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:02:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/09/24/how-silicon-purity-affects-the-performance-of-solar-cells/ Most solar cells are made from crystalline silicon. Crystalline silicon is expensive because it has to be very pure to make efficient solar cells. Unfortunately, nobody knows exactly how pure and that is why manufacturers play it safe. In other words: they generally use too pure and therefore too expensive silicon. New data on the relation between solar cell performance and impurity content are very important for cost saving. Until now, data from the 1970s have been used. In the meantime,... Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:31:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/09/03/growing-share-of-renewable-energy-requires-great-investments-in-european-electricity-infrastructure/ A significant increase in the share of renewable energy to 40-55 percent of the European energy mix by 2050 will place great demands on the European electricity infrastructure. Meeting these demands will require considerable investments in new infrastructure to make more efficient use of existing infrastructure. Mon, 03 Sep 2012 14:30:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/08/24/renewable-energy-current-dutch-policy-is-falling-short-of-2020-target-despite-strong-growth/ Under the current policy the share of renewable energy in the Netherlands is set to rise from 4% in 2010 to 7-10% in 2020. Although this is a strong increase, it is not enough to achieve the European target of 14% by 2020. Even with the measures proposed by the Rutte government and the agreements arrived at in the spring (Lenteakkoord), this 14% target is not going to be achieved. On the other hand, the Netherlands will probably be able to meet the targets for greenhouse emissions until 2020.... Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:29:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/26/turning-soya-bean-waste-into-energy-in-india/ ECN closes license agreement with Thermax. Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:40:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/25/welfare-benefits-of-ambitious-climate-policy/ What are the economic benefits of far-reaching climate policy in the Netherlands? And which technological options are suitable? These are the two central questions examined in a study on costs and benefits of CO2 emission reduction measures conducted for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment by ECN and SEO Economic Research. The starting point is realization of a CO2 emission reduction of 80% in 2050 compared to 1990. The report indicates which options are cost-effective for... Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:21:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/24/worldwide-collaboration-to-enhance-sustainable-development-and-renewable-energy/ The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). By collaborating, both parties will strengthen their activities to more efficiency and higher quality, with the ultimate aim of enhancing sustainable development and renewable energy globally. Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:43:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/17/business-case-for-carbon-capture-utilization-and-storage-in-china-within-reach/ With carbon prices at rock bottom, it may be surprising to hear that research conducted by ECN indicates that a business case for CCUS (carbon capture utilization and storage) in China is still within reach. Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:16:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/16/travel-guide-for-policy-makers/ Lost in the land of the energy transition? ECN has written a travel guide for policy makers: Tracking and trailblazing, of which the executive summary is now available in English. Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:39:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/12/new-international-seagriculture-conference/ Chances and opportunities in sea(weed) farming commodities Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:16:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/10/energy-research-and-education-joining-forces/ The Energy Academy Europe (EAE) and Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) are set to cooperate in the field of energy education and research. Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:17:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/07/02/breakthrough-in-co2-removal-technology/ In the future, energy companies will be able to generate cleaner electricity or hydrogen from coal or natural gas at a lower cost thanks to new ECN technology. This perspective is coming into sight thanks to a breakthrough in the Sorption Enhanced Water Gas Shift (SEWGS) technology for removing CO2 from fossil fuels. Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:57:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/06/29/benefits-of-competition-in-gas-infrastructure-investments-underexploited/ The European gas market is in transition. In the upcoming period, there is a serious need for significant investment in gas infrastructure, such as pipelines, gas storage facilities and LNG terminals. In order to ensure that this can be achieved effectively, this kind of investment needs less regulation from Europe and greater room for competition. This is the claim made by Jeroen de Joode, who was awarded his PhD for his thesis on the subject at TU Delft on Thursday 28 June. Part of his... Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:11:00 +0200 http://www.ecn.nl/news/item/date/2012/06/21/workshop-economic-opportunities-pv/ On June 13th, 2012, a workshop about the economic opportunities of photovoltaics (PV) in the Netherlands took place in Amsterdam. Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:01:00 +0200