At the close of each year, we like to take a look back to see which stories made an impact on our readers. This year's most read articles show the many twists and turns that the industry took this year and reveal interesting trends for us as editors and for other industry insiders.

President Obama has been under intense scrutiny for what he would do about climate change ever since he was elected in 2008. Part of that scrutiny takes place during his State of the Union Speech, when renewable energy proponents search for key words about solar and wind energy and count how often he mentions "climate change."

Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

Oil prices have fallen by more than half since July. Just five years ago, such a plunge in fossil fuels would have put the renewable-energy industry on bankruptcy watch. Today: Meh.

California’s bet on green energy is paying off, with clean technology companies creating more jobs and investing more money than competitors in any other state.

North Rhine-Westphalia, the German state that’s home to utilities RWE AG and EON SE, is losing its standing as the country’s powerhouse as wind and solar energy begin to displace conventional sources.

Electricity consumers in the western state, which has one-third of Germany’s installed conventional power capacity, last year paid 3.1 billion euros ($3.5 billion) more to subsidize clean energy generation than producers there were awarded, the BDEW utility lobby said in a report Tuesday. The biggest recipient was Brandenburg in the east with a positive balance of 838 million euros.

Energy is Europe’s quiet crisis. While the clamour of failing economies, desperate migrants and political clashes grabs the headlines, energy policy is rarely front-page news, but it should be — the statistics are shocking.

The European Commission raised concern that the U.K. and France may not meet their 2020 renewable energy targets, saying the two countries should examine whether they’re doing enough to reach the goals.

In West Virginia, where workers have harvested coal seams for centuries, Pope Francis’ new warning about the risks of fossil fuels will find skepticism even among the faithful.

Five companies were recognized this week by the National Hydropower Association during its annual Waterpower Week in Washington conference for work in hydroelectric power that exemplifies "extraordinary recreational, historical, environmental or educational value."

The World Bank has approved US$390 million in additional financing to be used by Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority for extensions of its Tarbela hydroelectric plant.

The SEC has finally proposed its rules to allow crowd-funding under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. What do they mean for small-scale investments in renewable energy companies and projects?

Wind farms and solar parks are changing hands at record rates, signaling both an increased taste for the assets among pension funds and hard times for utilities that are the biggest sellers.

Canada’s stock exchanges have long had the lead as the place for energy infrastructure companies to list. This includes green energy, as well as the fossil fueled sort. Because Canada’s reporting rules are somewhat less stringent, and its markets less liquid than those in the U.S., the large number of offerings trade at lower valuations and higher yields than do their (few) U.S.-listed equivalents.

Brazil's latest A-3 auction, matching up developers and power purchasers to prepare renewable energy projects to meet the nation's electricity demand by 2016, was a landslide win for wind energy -- but a shutout for solar, which was included in the process for the first time.

India's solar market is on track to be roughly the same in 2013 as it was in 2012, which is surprising given the ~20 percent overall growth projected for global solar demand. But optimism and expectations continue to emerge for India's solar potential.

The U.S. market for wind energy is something of a contradiction: it's one of the world's larger markets and fastest growing with its own supply chain, yet it's still heavily reliant upon a production tax credit, which was renewed at the last minute last December (yet late with enough uncertainty to chill many projects in the pipeline), and this time its renewal is even less certain.

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.

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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.

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.

Clean energy investment rose by 9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on surging demand for rooftop solar panels from the U.S. to Japan.

Renewable energy may reap as much as two-thirds of the $7.7 trillion in investment forecast for building new power plants by 2030 as declining costs make it more competitive with fossil fuels.

To help ensure the safety of fish passing through the new turbines at 912-MW Priest Rapids, Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County is employing the BioPA method to analyze the biological performance of proposed designs - and to choose an improved one for this facility.

A government-appointed panel gave Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott two options to cut emissions more cheaply: either scrap or weaken its main clean energy program.

Shinzo Abe’s re-election as prime minister risks undercutting Japan’s commitment to clean energy at a time when incentives are under review and the nation’s utilities say they can’t accommodate capacity already planned.

Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

California’s bet on green energy is paying off, with clean technology companies creating more jobs and investing more money than competitors in any other state.

The European Commission raised concern that the U.K. and France may not meet their 2020 renewable energy targets, saying the two countries should examine whether they’re doing enough to reach the goals.

In West Virginia, where workers have harvested coal seams for centuries, Pope Francis’ new warning about the risks of fossil fuels will find skepticism even among the faithful.

RWE AG, the German utility whose coal-fired plants make it Europe’s largest carbon emitter, officially started the company’s largest renewables project on Thursday: a wind farm in Liverpool Bay off Britain’s coast.

The Lebanese Ministry of Information reported Tuesday the security situation in the northern city of Tripoli has deteriorated dramatically.

Iran wants to work toward a draft agreement on a comprehensive solution to a lingering nuclear row with Western powers, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

The security situation in the Central African Republic remains dire, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Thursday.

European leaders said Friday they were frustrated by Turkey's decision to restrict access to the social media website Twitter.

Eversheds' Discrimination Law Review: January 2014 Introduction from Audrey Williams, Head of Discrimination Law Welcome to the latest edition of our Discrimination Law Review. Our focus, in this edition, is on recent significant cases.  As eve...

The Welsh Ministers have recently issued The Welsh Authorities Staff Transfers (Pensions) Direction 2012, under powers contained in Section 101 of the Local Government Act 2003 (the “2012 Direction”).  The 2012 Direction came into f...

The new cases bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kwara to 28.

The post Kwara records first COVID-19 death appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.

There may be hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 patients without symptoms silently spreading the virus according to medical professionals in their assessment of one week into the relaxation of lockdown imposed by the federal authorities on Lagos and Ogun states as well as Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The post Fears over COVID-19 patients without symptoms appeared first on Vanguard News.

 The first batch of Nigerians stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is on their way back home.

The post COVID-19: 160 stranded Nigerians depart U.S. for Abuja appeared first on Vanguard News.

Founder of First City Diagnosis and former governorship aspirant in Delta State, Dr. Iyke Odikpo, in this interview, urges government to prioritise production of simple test kits to stop rejection of non-COVID cases by private hospitals. He also advises against second lockdown, saying government should device home-grown solutions to rising number of infections.

The post COVID-19: No need for second lockdown – Odikpo, physician appeared first on Vanguard News.

In the last few weeks, many patients have been denied access to healthcare for fear of the unknown by the healthcare professionals in many hospitals across the country. In Lagos, there have been stories of people resorting to self-help s a result of the development.

The post Our problem with COVID-19 patients without symptoms – Faduyile, NMA President appeared first on Vanguard News.

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State says he has no regrets revealing the identity of the state’s COVID-19 index case, Mrs. Susan Okpe, despite the uproar the issue has generated.

The post I’ve no regrets revealing the identity of Benue COVID-19 index case — Ortom appeared first on Vanguard News.

Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia represents Jigawa North in the Senate. In this interview, Hadejia dismisses reports that coronavirus killed 100 people in his senatorial district and speaks on the ‘deportation’ of 400 almajirai from Kano by Governor Ganduje to Jigawa.

The post MYSTERY DEATHS IN JIGAWA: Fasting, malaria, heat killing my people, not COVID-19 — Senator Hadeija appeared first on Vanguard News.

By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has announced the discharge of 39 persons from its Covid-19 treatment centres, having serially tested negative to the disease after days of treatment. This was as some patients at the Treatment Centre in Asokoro District Hospital were said to have gone on a rampage on
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The post COVID-19: FCT discharges 39, as Patients go wild, want quick discharge appeared first on Vanguard News.

By David Royal On the 9th of May 2020, 239 new confirmed cases and 11 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, according to a report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The new cases have raised the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 4,151. According to NCDC, 239 people tested positive
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The post Nigeria confirms 239 new cases of COVID-19 as total exceeds 4,000 appeared first on Vanguard News.

The Ogun State Ministry of Health has reacted to a viral video circulating in the social media about a corpse claimed to be a victim of COVID-19 at its Primary Health Center (PHC), Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta on Friday, May 9, 2020. The Hon. Commissioner for Health, Ogun State, Dr. Tomi Coker, in a statement said that the
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The post Ogun Ministry of Health reacts to viral video of corpse claimed to be COVID-19 victim at its PHC appeared first on Vanguard News.

HARIPUR: A woman whose husband was murdered in broad daylight about 50 days back has criticized the local police for using delaying tactics in arresting the nominated accused.Speaking to media person here on Saturday Maryam Bibi, widow of Abid Sultan, a serving patwari of Revenue Department, said...

L'ann�e scolaire 2019-2020 � l'Ecole...