[en] Energy conservation, its planning and management and the development of renewable energy systems of proven design are very worthy challenges for all. Energy education at various levels is most important particularly in the development of renewable energy technology. 2 refs., 3 tabs

[en] The energy research programme of the Austrian Federal Government contains some essential and environmentally relevant points of emphasis. As regards the funding aspect, environment-related energy research, especially energy conservation, has absolute priority. About 40% of the energy consumption in Austria is used for the heating of buildings; half of this is allotted to flats. The main goals of the Austrian energy research policy are to reduce the energy consumption and to increase the use of solar energy in the heating of buildings. Another major emphasis is put on research in the field of domestic renewable energy sources especially bio-energy and solar energy. (author)

[en] This paper examines issues related to increasing the market penetration of renewable forms of energy in developing countries. It particularly focuses on availability and access of financial support for investments relating to renewable energy and a case study is presented illustrating innovative financing. While the main focus of the discussion is on renewable energy (RE) attention is also devoted to energy efficiency (EE) projects and investment. An underlying premise is that, if RE projects are to reach their market potential, they must be fiscally sustainable and the appropriate promotion of such fiscally sustainable RE projects yields multiple environmental and developmental synergies. Commercial viability is not primarily a question of technology. There is a broad range of RE products with proven performance and commercial operation in selected market situations. The challenge of extending this market penetration is to establish the institutional, organizational and financial conditions under which a commercial market for these products can develop, particularly in developing countries. This article reflects current emphasis on increased private participation in the energy sector, as well as policy reform at the national level. (author)

[en] In 1995, in the fifteen EU countries renewable energy sources reached almost 72.9 Mtoe in terms of primary energy (65.2 Mtoe in 1990) representing 9.9% of the total production and 5.3% of the demand. In 1995 the share of the energy production covered by renewable has been 18.5% in Spain, 13.8% in France, 0.6% in UK and 4.5% in Germany. In Italy, in 1996, the gross domestic energy consumption (including bunkers) increased to 172.8 Mtoe from the 1995 figure of 172.6 Mtoe, with a minor increase. At the same time the overall electricity demand reached 262.9 TWh (261 TWh in 1995) following the 0.7% growth of the gross domestic product recorded over the same period. The contribution of renewable energy sources /hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, biomasses, solar, wind) to the national energy consumption in 1996 has been 13.8 Mtoe (12.7 Mtoe in 1995). The strong decrease of the hydroelectricity production recorded in 1995 has been recovered in 1996, an average year for the rain precipitations

[en] Several renewable energy options are discussed, namely solar energy, passive solar systems, photovoltaics, wind energy and biomass. Although technical feasibility has been shown for various systems, there has been slow growth in their implementation. Some aspects of this slow growth are in the domains of economic viability, long term reliability, the training of operators and installers, public perception and education and govenmental attitudes. It is estimated that the increased use of renewable energy depends on several factors which include government policies, funding, energy conservation, pricing policies, reliable commercial products, public education and adequate training. 11 refs

[en] General characteristics of the modern state, features and problems of the Eastern Siberia electric power engineering are given. Conceptual regulations and main directions of the region electric power system development are described including suggestions on auctioning the electric power complex

[en] To recover natural and free energy which is formed by solar energy, rain energy and wind energy, the SOFATH process is using a thermodynamic circuit composed from an evaporator used as a collector, buried outside, a condenser used as a low temperature radiating floor and air stations inside the building . The cooling is possible owing to the reversal of the working cycle. 2 tabs

[en] Short communication

[en] Short communication

[en] This eighth edition of the lecture manuscript makes a comprehensive survey of all important methods for renewable energy utilization. It contains many details on theoretical fundamentals, energy-relevant and operating characteristics, experience with practical operation and, finally, cost assessments of energy generation using the new techniques. The chapter on the potential of new energy sources including biomass has been distinctly extended in this edition. (orig./RHM)