By Jerome a Paris

Recent statistics have been published showing that Europe has now installed over 2,000 MW of offshore wind capacity, with more than a quarter installed in the past year and lots more to come in the next few years.

I discussed these numbers in more detail here, but wanted to give you here some insights on what these numbers mean on the ground.

I recently visited the port site in Zeebrugge, Belgium, where the foundations for the Belwind offshore wind farm (the financing of which I worked on) were stored before their installation. This is a good opportunity to give you a glimpse of the kind of logistics involved, and what kind of problems can happen (and how they are solved), on offshore wind installations.

Follow me for a tour of a small bit of Europe's fastest growing heavy industry.

Senate Climate Bill to Give Free Permits: Sources (Reuters)

U.S. power generating companies would get free pollution permits, at least initially, as part of a compromise climate bill being written in the Senate that also would give the coal industry $10 billion to develop "clean" technology, sources said.

Offshore Drilling Revenue Sharing Takes Hold in Senate Climate Bill (ClimateWire)

Coastal states that agree to oil and gas drilling off their shores would be offered one-quarter of the revenue, under the latest draft of the new climate bill, sources on and off the Hill say.

U.S. States Sue EPA to Stop Greenhouse Gas Rules (Reuters)

At least 15 U.S. states have sued the EPA seeking to stop it from issuing rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions until it reexamines whether the pollution harms human health.

Environmental Groups Challenge Virginia's EPA Lawsuit (AP)

Two environmental groups are challenging Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli's legal action to block federal regulation of greenhouse gases.

Canada Has Warmest and Driest Winter on Record (Green Car Congress)

Environment Canada reported that the national average temperature for the winter 2009/2010 was 7.2 °F above normal, based on preliminary data, making this the warmest winter on record since nationwide records began in 1948.

Top Climate Officials Urge Progress at Mexico Summit (AFP)

The UN IPCC has listened to and learned from recent criticism, but the threat of global warming is real and must be tackled, the group's head said Saturday.

It’s an engineer’s dream: A 220,000 square-foot office space designed with performance as the ultimate priority. Most building projects start in the mind of an architect and are then passed off to engineers, who have to figure out how to make the building function well, but the new net-zero National Renewable Energy Lab office building, in Golden, Colo., started with the engineering.

So it is that the building is a rather unusual “H” shape, with the lobby area connecting two wings, because the project’s engineers determined that shape would maximize daylight and thus reduce energy needs.

The building is meant to be a national showcase and a teaching tool, in addition to serving its primary function as office space for NREL.

“The overarching goal is to demonstrate that highly energy efficient and marketable net zero buildings can be built using available technologies and techniques today,” Jeff Baker, director of the Office of Laboratory Operations for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) said during a webinar about the building’s technologies yesterday. 

A new poll on Thursday found overwhelming support for building giant solar farms on America's pristine public lands.

The poll [pdf] was conducted by Gotham Research Group, a national pollster, and was commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a 1,100-member trade group. It was done mainly to gauge support for plans by the U.S. Department of Interior to fast-track environmental reviews of 14 solar plant proposals in the American West.

The poll found that 75 percent of Americans across all demographics, regions and political parties approve of a utility-scale solar boom. But it also revealed a partisan divide when solar power was pitted against wind farms, nuclear plants, oil wells, natural gas facilities and coal plants.

"Solar energy is the top priority across the board—except among Republicans," Jeff Levine, president of Gotham Research Group, told reporters.

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Senate Climate Bill Tied to Health Issue, Graham Says (Bloomberg)

Senate climate-change legislation won't be introduced until at least next month and prospects for action depend on lawmakers' "mood" following the debate on health care, said Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Enviro Groups Hold 'Encouraging' Meeting with Kerry on Climate Bill (The Hill)

High-level officials from 10 or so green groups met with Sen. John Kerry for roughly 1.5 hours in his Senate office on Thursday to discuss climate legislation, in a meeting they described as "very encouraging" and "productive."

U.S. Wind Power Growing Fast But Still Lags (Reuters)

Wind-generated electricity is growing rapidly in the U.S. but the pace still lags far behind that in China, the organizer of an industry conference in North Carolina said.

Climate Change Cited as Mont. Leases Suspended (AP)

A federal judge has approved a first-of-its-kind settlement requiring the government to suspend 38,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana so it can gauge how oil field activities contribute to climate change.

U.S. Mustn't Discriminate Against Canadian Oil Sands (Reuters)

The U.S. should not discriminate against the Canadian oil sands industry, Canada's ambassador in Washington said on Thursday, warning that trade restrictions could cause the energy supplier to seek out other customers.

EPA to Study 'Fracking' Gas Drilling Method (AP)

The EPA said Thursday that it will study potential human health and water quality threats from an oil and natural gas drilling technique that injects massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground.

In an automotive sector strained by recession, lay-offs, bankruptcies, the credit crunch and recalls, one bright spot over the last year has been the move among corporations to more fuel efficient fleets.

Poland Springs Water, a brand of Nestle Waters, has been greening its fleet since 2007, and seeing big savings as a result. It all started when Chris McKenna moved from warehouse manager to fleet manager at Poland Springs. He had been using biodiesel in the warehouse yard trucks and thought it might be worth testing for the fleet.

Just a few years ago, the idea of replacing kerosene-based jet fuel with renewable fuel from plants seemed out of the question. The cost of producing such alternative fuels dwarfed that of traditional jet A-grade fuel, and moving a severely carbon-intensive industry toward cleaner fuels would only happen if the economics worked out.

A 2008 spike in oil prices and a global economic slowdown later, and suddenly bio-jet fuel isn’t just back on the table, it might be in your airplane’s engines in the next four or five years.

Deal Nearing on Senate Climate Bill: Sen. Kerry (Reuters)

The Senate is close to wrapping up talks ahead of introducing a compromise climate bill, said Sen. Kerry, after meeting with a coalition that represents automakers, forestry and paper companies, Big Oil, steel, mining, electricity and others.

Gov. Christie Seeks CO2 Revenue to Close N.J. Budget Gap (Bloomberg)

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wants to use funds from CO2 permit auctions in the U.S. Northeast's cap-and-trade program to help close the state's $10.7 billion deficit.

Auto Alliance Opposes Murkowski on EPA Greenhouse Gas Regs (The Hill)

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is officially opposed to Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) effort to block EPA from regulating greenhouse gases through a congressional resolution of disapproval.

UN Chief Wants UN in Charge of Climate Talks (AP)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN will remain in charge of talks on a new global climate accord, dismissing a shift to negotiations with a streamlined group of countries suggested by UN climate envoy Gro Harlem Brundtland.

Cancun Climate Talks Get Dim Prognosis Nine Months Before Start (Bloomberg)

Government negotiators are already writing off chances for a global treaty to fight climate change, nine months before the annual talks begin in Cancun, Mexico.

Climate Debate Should be Reframed: Malidives President (AFP)

The climate debate should be reframed in economic and security terms ahead of a year-end UN summit in Mexico seeking a binding climate deal, the president of the Maldives said Wednesday.

By Kunda Dixit, Himal

Namgye Chumbi was weeding his potato garden in the village of Phakding in Nepal’s Khumbu region below Mount Everest on the morning of Aug. 4, 1985. Because of the monsoon season, there were not too many trekkers hiking up the trail towards Namche Bazaar. It was a brilliantly clear day, unusual for the monsoon season, and he was working by the banks of the Dudh Kosi River.

True to its name, the river was milky white and frothing, as the water tumbled noisily over boulders. Yet around 2 in the afternoon, the river suddenly became strangely silent. The water level went down, and Namgye sensed danger.

Much in the same way as coastal dwellers saw the sea recede before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Dudh Kosi was about to reveal its terrifying avatar.

Abandoning Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a potential long-term repository for nuclear waste was an Obama campaign promise, and it garnered public support in the state and from opponents of nuclear power everywhere.

Now that the Department of Energy has officially begun the process to withdraw its application, though, it is clear that not everyone shares the same desire to shutter the decades-old project.