Malaysia will produce bioethanol from sago palm starting from early 2010. Professor Kopli Bujang from the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) said that the sago-based bioethanol was expected to be in the market by February 2010. He said that apart from being environmentally-friendly, the bioethanol product based on sago, to be named E18, will not require any modification to the engine or carburettor to use it.
ABB, a power and automation technology company, has received a $24m contract from National Grid for a 400 kV substation. The substation would connect a new power plant in the north-west of England to the power grid.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) is seeking approval from three local governments, the city of Kashiwazaki, the village of Kariwa and Niigata Prefecture to restart the No. 6 1,356 megawatt (MW) generator at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, Reuters reported. Earlier, the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan gave its permission to restart the generator at the plant, and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the trade ministry has given its approval in earlier week.
The construction of the $15 million Whyalla Solar Oasis power station has begun last week in Whyalla, South Australia, Adelaidenow.com reported. On completion, the new solar thermal power station will provide a base-load, or 24-hour, power supply, by this time next year. Initially, the station will consist of four big dishes which will generate power for up to 1000 homes. The long-term plan is for 600 dishes to be built, each 500sq m in area, in a 2km by 1km area at the city's northern entrance.
China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has set a target to achieve an installed solar power capacity of 2 GW in the next two years, the China Daily reported. The new target set is about 15 times more than the 140 MW capacity it had at the end of 2008. The Asian country added 40 MW in new capacity last year. China, in its new energy stimulus plan, has revised its 2020 target for solar power capacity from 1.8 GW to 20 GW.
Afren plc (Afren), an oil and gas exploration and production company, said that First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Company Limited (FHN) has been established to be a majority Nigerian owned oil and gas company in the Nigerian exploration and production (E&P) sector.
