Six Western-Balkans leaders will sit down with the 27 EU ones in a videoconference summit on Wednesday that was to have taken place in Zagreb as the centrepiece of the Croatian EU presidency. "The summit itself is the message, to say: we want you to join," an EU diplomat told Reuters, adding: "We will also say that you cannot pander to the Chinese and the Russians when it suits you".

The eurozone will contract by a record 7.75 percent in 2020 but grow by 6.25 percent in 2021, the EU Commission said in its economic forecast on Wednesday. The EU-wide economy is to contract by 7.5 percent this year and grow by around six percent in 2021. The sharpest drop is estimated in Greece with 9.7 percent, in Italy with 9.5 percent and in Spain by 9.4 percent.

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plan to open their mutual borders on 15 May for their residents, prime ministers of the countries said on Wednesday. However, people arriving from any other country to the Baltic three will have to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine. Most member states within the EU's passport-free Schengen zone have closed their borders in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

The Belgian National Security Council, where all governments are represented, has decided to reopen all shops from 11 May onward, prime minister Sophie Wilmès announced at a press conference, adding "only one customer for every 10 square metres is allowed, and this for maximum half an hour". Bars, restaurants, markets and museums will remain closed. People are also allowed to see four extra people, instead of the current one person.

The EU has restated its accession promises to Western Balkan aspirants, while tacitly warning them on Chinese and Russian influence.

The Bank of England on Thursday warned that the UK economy is heading towards its deepest recession on record, as the British economy will shrink by 14 percent this year. The Covid-19 pandemic was "dramatically reducing jobs and incomes in the UK", it said. Bank governor Andrew Bailey told the BBC there would be no quick return to normality. The EU has forecast an eight-percent contraction for the UK.

EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson told MEPs that "the demand for child sexual abuse material has increased by up to 30 percent in some member states." Her comments were among a number of examples of criminal behavoir that has erupted since the pandemic outbreak. She said criminals also tried to cheat authorities out of €50m by selling them non-existent face masks.

Belgium's supermarkets have seen an increase in takings of more than €500m since the lockdown was installed mid-March, Le Soir writes. Compared to last year that is an increase of 10 percent. The uptick in sale was mainly for alcohol, food and cleaning products. At the beginning of the lockdown, people massively over-bought toilet paper and frozen foods, but those sales are today back to normal.

For the second time in a week, journalists in Berlin have been attacked by anti-lockdown protesters, Deutsche Welle reports. Each time a TV crew with camera were attacked when they approached a group of people protesting against measures to contain the coronavirus. Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas condemned the attacks, saying on Twitter "those who attack journalists also attack our democracy."

"The coronavirus has ending blowing up the model of global multilateral governance that has been functioning over the past few years," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a group of reporters on Thursday.

The EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell called agreeing to Chinese censorship on the origins of coronavirus "misguided". Nevertheless, he said diplomacy works like that in China.

The European Commission is floating plans to beef up the fight against money-laundering, including possibly giving a supervisor role to the European Banking Authority. Yet the authority's board refused to act on a €200bn money-laundering scandal involving Danske Bank.

Support services for victims and witnesses, the police and other relevant authorities are stretched to the limits because of staff shortages, travel restrictions or other demands related to Covid-19.

Such claims, based on internal reports four years ago, fall far from the truth, and are mainly based on conjectures and presumptions. The so-called 'Chinese espionage menace' is nothing new and has time and again been proven fictitious.

MEPs said the Czech PM should fully resolve the possible conflict of interest in a company that receives EU funds - or resign.

The EU's top court, the European Court of Justice, warned Friday the bloc's legal order could unravel if national courts started to question the primacy of EU law and ECJ decisions. In an unprecedented statement, after the German Constitutional Court's ruling on the European Central Bank diverging from an earlier ECJ decision, the ECJ said it alone has the right to rule on EU institutions and interpret EU law.

It's that time of year, time to wrestle with the wallet, brave the shopping malls, or surf online for deals. If you're in a renewable energy state of mind this season, we've got you covered -- here are a handful of gift ideas for you and those special someones on your list.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus unveiled the “Farm to Fleet” program, through which the Navy will begin to add biofuels into its regular domestic purchases of approximately 77 million gallons of jet fuel (JP-5) and marine diesel (F-76) each year.

A new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) forecasts 100 percent of new power in Australia will be generated from renewable energy sources through 2020.

India's solar energy installed capacity has swelled from practically nothing to more than 2 GW in the three years since the creation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase 1 (JNNSM). Impressively, costs have come down rapidly (to roughly $0.12/kWh for solar PV, and $0.21/kWh for CSP) to be competitive with grid-connected solar PV in many other regions.

It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday bustle: shopping, decorating, parties, and preparation. Our to-do lists can seem endless, but we carry on because it is that special time of year, a season of giving.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has invalidated 33.5 million renewable-fuel credits sold by an Indiana company for biofuel it didn’t produce, the fourth time the agency has alleged fraud in the program.

The European Union will review German discounts on environmental taxes amid concerns the aid to companies that consume high volumes of energy may be illegal, but newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the measures are needed to keep Europe's biggest economy competitive.

For those clamoring for (and against) the year-end-expiring legislation, and anyone in favor of some tax-code simplification, today the government has offered an early holiday present: proposed reform for some key areas including the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC).

According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, solar, biomass, wind, geothermal, and hydropower "units" provided 394 MW — or 100 percent — of all new electrical generation placed in-service in November 2013. There was no new capacity during the month from natural gas, coal, oil, or nuclear power. Renewable energy sources also provided 99 percent of all new electrical generating capacity in October.

Alaska’s 720,000 people live in over 200 “energy islands” with no electricity grid connection to each other nor to North America. Smaller communities have no road connection to each other, the rest of Alaska, or the continent. Most energy is imported: diesel for electricity generation and heat; gasoline for transportation. All Alaskans might obtain an annually-firm supply of most of their energy, for all purposes, by converting Alaska’s diverse, stranded, renewable energy (RE) resources to liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuel, transporting and storing it at low cost in common steel propane tanks, recovering the RE via stationary combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants, in internal combustion engine (ICE) and combustion turbine (CT) gensets, and via fuel cells, and as transportation fuel. Alaskans could achieve a significant degree of community energy independence, and perhaps export their abundant, stranded renewables as “green” liquid NH3 fuel. Solid state ammonia synthesis (SSAS) appears promising.

A Louisiana lumber town has become the crossroads for an unusual buyer and seller in the U.S. municipal market: private-equity firm KKR & Co. and the world’s biggest manufacturer of wood pellets.

As the renewable energy market shifts and evolves each year, industry experts need to know where the next hot region will be in order to keep up with the changing tides.

As editors we delight in learning which of the stories that we wrote or commissioned were most popular with our readers. That’s why at the end of each calendar year, we pull reports that tell us which stories we posted got the most shares, the most views, the most comments, etc. We also look at which videos were watched the most. Often, we post articles that we know will be a big hit: like explanations of controversial solar legislation. But other times you surprise us, readers, by taking great interest in articles that we felt were solid but not necessarily ground-breaking.

As the renewable energy market shifts and evolves each year, industry experts need to know where the next hot region will be in order to keep up with the changing tides.

Here at RenewableEnergyWorld.com, we pride ourselves on our active community of readers who click, share, and comment on the articles that we post every day. While we don’t always agree with their take on the pieces we post, we always value constructive feedback and the high quality discussion that sometimes ensues.

Bio-energy forest plantations will supplement woody biomass from other sources such as logging residues. In the southern U.S., projections are for an increase of up to 25 million “new” tons of woody biomass demand for bioenergy. To supply this woody biomass demand will require purpose grown plantations of various species including pine, eucalypts, sweetgum, hybrid poplar and cottonwood, amongst others. Forest plantation yields can be 8-15 green tons/acre/year on rotations of 5-12 years. Utilization of this renewable and sustainable biomass resource will be as feedstock “designed” for a large number of bio-energy applications.

After being shut out of previous renewable energy auctions, and delaying its own auction by two weeks, the state government of Pernambuco held the nation's first solar energy auction on December 27, registering 122.82 MW of energy, six times the country's current entire solar energy output (20 MW). The auction involved 34 bidders proposing roughly 1 GW of capacity; at the end it was narrowed to six companies from Brazil, Italy, Germany, China and Spain. Average price of power finished trading at 228.63 Brazilian reais/MWh (just under U.S. $97), about 9 percent lower than the starting price of R 250.

The United States broke one record after another for extreme weather in 2013. From deadly floods in Colorado to prolonged drought across the Southwest, Americans saw what unchecked climate change can do to our communities. But we also witnessed another kind of powerful force: real and positive climate action.

We here at RenewableEnergyWorld.com value each and every one of our excellent contributors that share their important and thought-provoking insights with our readers. But we have a special affinity for our outstanding blogging community.

PensionDanmark A/S and other Danish pension investors backed a state fund to finance emission-reduction projects in developing countries as the Scandinavian nation seeks to export its climate know-how abroad.

Prime Minister David Cameron urged the European Commission to reject calls for a renewable energy target, saying such a plan may cost U.K. consumers 9 billion pounds ($14.8 billion) a year by 2030.

The European Union is poised to take its first formal steps to expand the world’s most ambitious limits on fossil fuel pollution. That may widen a rift in how it balances green policies with the need for cheaper power.

Wind and solar power producers say they're at risk of losing investment after the European Union's executive arm scrapped proposals for a mandatory target on renewable energy use in 2030.

Renewable energy companies will derive more of their funding from bond markets as banks curb lending to the industry, Citigroup Inc.’s head of environmental finance said.

European Union governments and the bloc’s executive arm are splitting over how to guarantee electricity supply as the region builds more renewable power.

Renewable Energy Generation Ltd., a British low-carbon asset developer backed by BlackRock Inc., will build six waste-to-power plants with Caterpillar Inc. and Finning U.K. Ltd. in an expansion of plans published last month.

Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said shifting to greater use of solar and wind power will challenge utility companies.

AlgaEnergy SA, part-owned by Spain’s Iberdrola SA and Repsol SA, is in talks with potential partners to set up a plant in Mexico to supply the American markets with biomass made from algae.

Clean energy assets in the Middle East and North Africa will more than double in capacity by the end of next year, the Dii GmbH industry association said.

The U.K. risks power shortages because utilities may react to Europe’s toughest carbon emissions rules by closing plants without replacing them.

BP Plc, recovering from an oil spill that may cost it as much as $42 billion, said it hasn’t set a new target for investing in renewable energy after investing $8.3 billion in the business.

Suez Environnement, Europe’s second-biggest water company, and Chinese partners agreed to build an incinerator near Shanghai to treat hazardous and medical waste that will generate steam and supply energy.

Talks between Germany and Norway about how to boost the trading of electricity from renewable sources are being held up by concerns that the power cable running under the North Sea won’t ever make money.

U.K. renewable power generation rose 28 percent last year as more wind farms and solar plants came online, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.