It was the Queens speech in which the eye catching 13 year plan to build 3,000,000 tractors ",sorry I mean homes, was announced .With the building industry on life support , the houses they hoped ?other people" would build are destined to remain a glint in a PM`s eye .Ok , I hear you purr malevolently , but they are doing all they can aren't they - Perhaps not - and certainly not for the poorest -...

Spain has the sunshine and now appears to have the will to use its potential to generate clean energy. Rising out of the Andalusian countryside like a gigantic obelisk, a huge concrete solar tower is surrounded by fields of more than 1,000 mirrors that are carefully positioned to reflect sunlight in order to superheat water in the tower. This is known as concentrated solar power technology and is ...

Many will remember the house in Bisley where the District Council planners said they must remove the solar panels - see full story here on my blog with comments. I have been meaning to update for ages as the Inspector's Decision on the Appeal has allowed the panels to go-ahead on this very fine Grade II Listed Building located centrally in our Conservation Area. This could be useful to others.

Yesterday's (23 July) announcement by French electricity giant EDF that it will build the country's largest solar manufacturing plant signalled France's bid to become one of the world's leading solar markets.

Friends of the Earth says it will take the government to court over plans to halve the subsidies for households that install solar electricity.

The government ran into a storm of criticism yesterday after quietly closing its grant programme for solar energy last week, which campaigners said made a mockery of its commitment to build a low-carbon economy. The controversial low-carbon buildings programme is a grant system aimed at boosting renewable energies including wind, biomass and solar. It was due to close this summer but last week the...

Building your own home in Britain is often seen as the preserve of the wealthy or eccentric.

British homeowners are increasingly able to build greener homes by using cheap solar panels from China, but western workers are paying the price with a wave of corporate collapses and layoffs among green energy firms. More »

Dubious long-term decision-making does not appear to be restricted to the UK and US. Adu Dhabi is has announced that it will change to coal-fired electricity generation. Dubai is currently building four such plants, with combined output of 4 gigawatts - enough to power 400,000 typical American homes. Oman is contracting with South Korea to build several as well, and Egypt proposes to build at leas...

Ministers say scheme would have been 'overwhelmed' as more than 40,000 solar installations have been registered since the programme started in April last year