A new biogas technology is capable of producing this renewable energy resource precisely when it is needed for the production of electricity. Biodegradable waste is increasingly being used as an input. 10/2011

Solar and wind power are naturally quite irregular in terms of production and supply to the grid. The Epex Spot power exchange has coped with these fluctuations in supply rather well over the last year and a half. 07/2011

German scientists have come up with a procedure for storing surplus wind and solar electricity as biomethane. The upgrading of biogas to natural-gas quality is making particular headway in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Yet the basic parameters still need to be set for the international transport and trade of biomethane. 04/2010

Russia never ratified the Energy Charter, the international legal framework for the energy industry. At the German-Russian Raw Materials Forum in Freiberg, Germany, Russian energy politician Valery Yazev announced meanwhile the “concept of a Global Energy Code”. 03/2010

Huge potential for energy savings could be unlocked in the US by 2020, concludes a report from McKinsey. But this will only happen if a ‘holistic approach’ is adopted – and investments of some $500 billion are made. The investment would quickly pay for itself. 12/2009

German industry could save twenty-five percent of its energy consumption by consistently applying existing efficiency technologies. While industry managers adopt a new way of thinking, scientists are working on the vision of a resource-efficient factory. 12/2009

In Germany, some 4,000 plants produce biogas which is used to generate electricity. The latest trend is for plants to convert biogas into biomethane, which is then fed into the gas grid. By 2020, some 6% of the gas that flows through the German grid must be from renewable sources. 07/2009

German gas providers coped remarkebly well with the supply disruption in January. They even managed to supply extra gas to hard-hit customers in Eastern Europe. Even so the companies are expanding their storage capabilities and looking for alternative supply routes. 02/2009

European energy exchanges may be undergoing a process of consolidation, Erik Saether, ceo of Nord Pool Spot (NPS), is not eager at this moment to merge with his European competitors. ‘It will be better for Europe if local markets are improved first.’ 02/2009

More and more solar technology companies are establishing themselves in the eastern German state of Saxony. The conditions in the state provide a solid basis for strong growth and the further development of their technologies. 01/2009

Scientists, plant manufacturers and module producers in Saxony are working on new technologies that can be used to produce solar electricity more cost-effectively. The goal is to bring the price down to match that of conventionally generated electricity within the next few years. 01/2009

The Leipzig based company Terracon Energy GmbH combines a traditional diesel generator with a wind turbine and a photovoltaic device for mobile electricity production. Using renewable energies brings a significant reduction in operating costs. 01/2009

East German gas company VNG Verbundnetz Gas has managed to remain independent since the transition to a market economy in 1990. With major shareholder EWE, based in northwestern Germany, now trying to take control, the board and other shareholders are fighting back. 12/2008

European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig is working on an alliance with other European energy exchanges. EEX has established a joint operation for spot market trading with Powernext in Paris. Belpex in Belgium and the Dutch exchange APX may also join in and there are talks with other exchanges. Dr. Hans-Bernd Menzel, chief executive of EEX: ‘We have then already got as far as the Pyrenees.’ 11/2008

The interlinking of the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig and Powernext in Paris was a major step in the consolidation of European energy exchanges. Many other moves are being made, but challenges in market coupling will have to be resolved before trading markets can become truly integrated. 11/2008

The world’s first pilot plant for the capture of carbon dioxide in a coal-fired station has commenced operations at the eastern German power plant Schwarze Pumpe. From 2020, the lignite power producer wants to use his Oxyfuel technology in a large scale commercial power plant. 10/2008