Featured articles
Solar power from nanotechnology
Norwegian EnSol AS has patented a new kind of photovaltic solar cells. It seems that in the future, anything could harness power from the sun.
The future is looking green
Project Zero is an ambitious plan to make a region in southern Denmark completely carbon neutral by 2029.
Zoological transport
Fuelling your vehicles with fossil fuel is not a logical choice when you are running a zoological garden. That is why the Zoo in Aalborg chose the fuel cell powered EcoTruck instead.
The energy from beneath
The global potential for geothermal energy is enormous. In the United States alone there is enough energy for the next 30 000 years. On Iceland access to all this free energy is bringing the country one step closer towards energy independence every day.
Good wood
Wood has a long tradition as a building material in Finland. Using more wood can be an effective way of reducing emissions from the building and construction sector.
Energy from the fjord
Norway is the land of the fjords. For a century the Norwegians have harnessed energy from the water cascading down from the mountains and into the deep, cold fjords. Now, however, they are using the stable temperatures of the fjord to heat and cool public buildings.
Sufficient and sustainable
The Danish municipality Ringkøbing – Skjern aims at 100 % energy sufficiency by 2020.
Not just greener, but smarter too
Many things have changed over the past hundred years. Today our homes are filled with appliances and gadgets such as plasma screen tv-sets, computers, and mobile phones. Though high-tech, they still rely on good old fashioned electricity to make them tick.
Provincial heating
Sweden is one of the world leaders in district heating. Yet, there are rural areas in Sweden that are too scarcely populated to see any major developments. In these areas thinking small is a great idea.
Cleaner clouds from Iceland
Datacenters are energy-intensive facilities that account for a considerable amount of the global CO2 emissions. Why should you care? Because the datacenters are what keep the internet alive. And because the internet is here to stay we should find a cleaner way of powering it.
Denmark: Pioneers in wind energy
Denmark’s countryside is riddled with windmills generating electricity for farmers and communities. The quiet rotating blades have become almost like a national symbol to Denmark. And with good reason.
Nordic innovations in Silicon Valley
“Nordic Green II is a gateway for Nordic companies looking for opportunity in the US and a place where US innovators can learn about how to get involved with the latest innovations coming out of this world leading region” says Alex Portilla from the Innovation Center Denmark in Silicon Valley.
General Electric invest in the Nordic region
To develop Europe's vast offshore wind resources American energy giant General Electrics looks to the north.
American Wind, Nordic Expertise
USA is a world leader in wind power with a total installed capacity of over 35000 MW. Nordic expertise is currently involved in a number of wind projects in the U.S.
Cleaner Capitals
As cities across the world grow larger, air pollution from cars has become a growing concern. The Nordic capitals have taken some steps to clear the air.
Good neighbors
Share the heat. Dairy production generate a lot of heat. Why not sell it to the greenhouse next door?
Pig City
Construction on a combined green house and pig farm is expected to begin in Denmark in 2010.
Danes and Chinese work together on wind energy
The Danish-Chinese Wind Energy Development Programme (WED) is a bilateral development programme with its overall objective to help China improve its technological and management capacity in wind power development.
Heating Husavik
Husavik – a small urban community on the north coast of Iceland, 40 km from the Arctic Circle – is a model of how energy efficiency can be integrated to a unified whole.
Denmark’s first carbon neutral building
The Green Lighthouse is a new facility at the University of Copenhagen. It is carbon neutral, utilizes solar panels, district heating, natural lighting and ventilation. And it shows us that energy efficient buildings are not a thing of the future.
Working together for cleaner cars
Valmet Automotive knows something about making cars, while Ensto and Fortum know quite a bit about electricity. A good reason to team up and develop solutions for electric cars.
District heating goes digital
Servers and computers generate a lot of heat. Two Finnish companies have found a clever way of cooling them down. The benefits turned out to be.. binary.
Massive yet passive
With huge variations in climate from arctic coastal areas in the North, to more temperate areas in the south, building passive houses in the Nordic region can be a challenge. Still, passive houses are popping up all across the region.
Joint Nordic research on energy and climate
The Top-level Research Initiative (TRI) focuses on climate, environment and energy solutions and is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date. Cooperation between the best scientists and institutions in the Nordic countries will contribute towards solving the global climate crisis.
The carbon free nation
Nearly all of Iceland's electricity comes from geothermal and hydro, and 90 % of homes and workplaces are heated with geothermal hot water. Still, the ultimate challenge remains: turning the entire island into a carbon-free society.
Inspirational sustainability
An hour’s drive to the east of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, you get to the community of Solheimar. Iceland’s first eco-village and home to the Center for Sustainable Development at Sesselja House.
Stockholm, European Green Capital 2010
Starting 2010, one European city will be selected each year as the European Green Capital of the year. First one out is Sweden’s capital Stockholm. Let us have a look at what makes it so green.
Branding the wind
Kotka Energia is a energy services company that is 100 % owned by the city of Kotka, Finland. It supplies it's citizens with the heat and energy it needs, while making big cuts in the city’s emmissions.
Iceland's helping hand
A generation ago Iceland was dependent on imported fossil fuels, today they are practically energy independent. Now Iceland wish to share it's knowledge to help other countries achieve energy independence.
Improving energy efficiency
Lower energy consumption is an important step towards a sustainable energy system in Sweden.
Future dwellings
The Danish project "Fremtidens parcelhuse" near the city of Køge, has demonstrated that it is possible to build energy efficient and environmentally sound houses without compromising on architectural quality.
Produce more, pollute less – the Nordic vision
The Nordic countries have a very fine track record when it comes to dealing with the really big challenge in a carbon-constrained future: creating more growth with less pollution.
Saving 4 million tons CO2 a year
Thanks to Iceland's many volcanoes, five geothermal power and heating plants make Reykjavik an excellent example on how to make maximum use of renewable energy.
The sustainable tourist
Portable cabins for isolated tourist destinations may introduce both sustainable tourism and new energy solutions.
Exploring energy efficient pulping
When paper industry increases the use of mechanical grinding of raw materials, both wood consumption and environmental load is reduced. But energy consumption is increased.
Nordic countries are to be global role models
A declaration issued by the Nordic prime ministers states that the global increase in climate gas emissions must be halted no later than 2020. Research on climate solutions is part of the joint Nordic statements.
Demonstrating offshore wind power in deep sea
Loaded with heavy mineral olivine to secure stability, StatoilHydro's floating wind turbine is now buoyed off the coast of Norway. These turbines could be the future of renewable energy.
Norwegian companies to build wind farm off UK
220,000 homes will be supplied with clean energy from the offshore wind farm that is being established off the coast of UK by the end of 2011. StatoilHydro is operator for the development phase.
Prize winning circuit
Local sewage is used as fertiliser for bio energy crops in the Swedish city Enköping.
50 percent district heating
About 2.6 million Finns live in houses heated by district heating. District heating use heat energy generated in electricity production, and waste heat from industrial and other processes.
Welcome to cold Hawaii
Thisted Municipality in Denmark realises that an energy plan based on renewables, must be economically sustainable and help create new jobs within the municipality.
Promoting Nordic renewable solutions
The Nordic Council of Ministers envisages the Region becoming a leading exporter of sustainable energy solutions and is launching this new website to promote Nordic expertise.
Nordic energy companies increase their R&D effort
The largest Nordic energy companies are increasing their budgets on research and development. From 2006 to 2009 these budgets have risen by about 63 percent.
Floating wind turbines
Lyse is planning the world's first deep-water wind farm off the island of Utsira in Rogaland, Norway.
Biofuel from seaweed
A small eco-project in Porsanger in Northern Norway could turn out to be quite an innovative biofuel production facility.
The carbon compensating island
The Danish island Samsø has a negative carbon footprint. Offshore wind power is compensating the island's emissions from transportation.
Drilling for the ultimate thermopower
The Deep Drilling Project might lead to boreholes that could ultimately yield 10 times as much geothermal power as any previous geothermal project.
Eco-cycle in Hammarby
To minimise the consumption of resources is the goal of Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm. Waste from energy cover a sustantial part of the community's energy needs.
Energy from osmosis
The Norwegian company Statkraft opens the world’s first facility for osmotic power generation. Statkraft says a full-scale commercial osmotic power plant could be ready by 2015.
Reliable power supply from intermittent sources
By 2025, half the Danish electricity consumption will come from wind power. What challenges does that target put on the power grid?
Zero emission living area
The Skaftkärr project strives for a total elimination of carbon dioxide emissions from the area's residential housing.
Sustainable residential area in Finland
Ekoviikki in Helsinki is the largest sustainable residential area in Finland, demonstrating a range of environmental and energy concepts.
Distribution pipe connecting district heating grids in Oslo
Hafslund Fjernvarme in Oslo is connecting different district heating grids to improve the system's efficiency.
Sustainable municipalities in Sweden
Swedish municipalities bring their work on energy and the environment one step further in co-operation with the Swedish Energy Agency.
Related articles
The future is looking green
Project Zero is an ambitious plan to make a region in southern Denmark completely carbon neutral by 2029.
Good wood
Wood has a long tradition as a building material in Finland. Using more wood can be an effective way of reducing emissions from the building and construction sector.
Zero Emission Buildings
I collaboration with a whole host of partners, the ZEB-project is figuring out how to make our homes greener.
