“The building sector is responsible for more than 30% of global energy demand and round about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions”, says Peter Graham from the Global Buildings Performance Network in Paris.

To prevent energy loss and improve the management of solar power plants scientists of the European research project MACC II in France are now developing a 5-day forecast to predict the movements of desert dust and thus will be able to inform power plant managers beforehand.

Geothermal energy has always been used by man, but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that geothermal energy was “rediscovered” and used on an industrial scale.

Reducing the energy requirements of buildings is an absolute priority in Europe. The energy demonstration project SARA has developed several public-access eco-buildings in France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, UK and Uzbekistan.

In Lille, France, buses are running on biogas produced from organic waste. Twenty-eight research partners gathered together to exploit waste for transportation system in Lille (France), Göteborg and Stockholm (Sweden), Haarlem (The Netherlands) and Rome (Italy).