THE "AGM" of Britain's burgeoning renewables industry, to be staged in Aberdeen this week, promises to be the biggest and best yet. All-Energy 2010, the 10th in the annual series, will be staged on Wednesday, May 19, and Thursday, May 20, at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. In addition, Renewables UK is running a share fair on the Tuesday.
MORE than half of the energy we use in Scotland goes to heat our buildings and homes. At the moment, much of this is provided by fossil fuels - gas in areas served by the gas grid, oil or electricity elsewhere. But the UK and Scottish Governments have important plans to encourage us to heat our buildings using renewable sources.
For just over a decade, the renewables industry has been meeting in Aberdeen to sketch out the future of offshore wind and marine energy at All-Energy, plus Scottish Renewables has, on occasion, staged events, too.
THE race for renewables is now global, with bold targets set by a growing list of countries. Even generally resource-rich Latin America is embracing the revolution, including one of the world's most successful deepwater oil&gas producers - Brazil.
Finding enough money to commercialise clean technology poses a major challenge to all involved. Without it, the technology and business-model innovation needed to enable a global transformation towards a more resource-efficient and low-carbon future is tough.
Aberdeen company Subocean is preparing to set up a satellite office in Germany in a bid to capture lucrative contracts with offshore wind developers on that side of the North Sea.
There is an urgent need for the offshore renewables industry to establish a common set of safety competence standards based on the North Sea oil&gas model, according to the group CEO of the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO).
President Barack Obama yesterday criticised the "ridiculous spectacle" of oil industry officials pointing fingers of blame at each other for the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
PRIVATE and public-sector organisations in the Highlands and islands are to make their case to be rated one of the most successful energy industry hubs in the world at the All-Energy conference and exhibition in Aberdeen next week.
MORE than 350 members, associates and guests of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) gathered in the Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House Hotel last night for the North Sea chapter's annual dinner and safety awards.
OIL and gas service business Plexus Holdings, owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP method of wellhead engineering, officially opened its new assembly and testing building at its HQ in Aberdeen yesterday.
BP TOLD the US Congress yesterday its massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by the failure of a crucial safety device made by another company.
OIL and gas giants operating in European waters were urged yesterday to reinforce security measures in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion which is turning into an ecological disaster.
UK oil companies Rockhopper Exploration and Desire Petroleum saw their shares soar yesterday after Rockhopper revealed an oil discovery in the Falklands.
PSN, the Aberdeen-based global energy service company, said yesterday it had shown strong resilience in adverse and uncertain economic circumstances and in a low-oil-price environment during 2009.
Offshore safety around the world could be improved significantly and the industry could save millions of pounds if safety training was standardised, skill body Opito said yesterday.
The chief executive of a new industry body set up to make sure UK businesses are ready for decommissioning work is attending OTC to help to build knowledge of the organisation.