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Owing to visionary environmental and energy policies combined with coherent public planning, Denmark has developed the most efficient waste management system in Europe.

Many representatives and advisors of renewable energy businesses believe (or at least hope) that 2010 will witness a significant “uptick” in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity across all renewable energy industries. As renewable energy businesses continue to attract funding and benefit from favorable governmental policies (or, conversely, as funding slows down or governmental policies change), such businesses should be in a position to attract suitors and/or explore growth opportunities. To the extent you are looking for or experience M&A opportunities, below are a few “M&A Truths.”

ACORE is pleased to partner with EarthEra to balance the carbon emissions of this year’s conference. EarthEra is an innovative new program from NextEra Energy Resources, North America’s largest producer of wind and solar power. The EarthEra program provides a powerful new way for everyone, from large organizations to individual consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and help build a clean energy future. 100% of revenue received by EarthEra is directed to the EarthEra Renewable Energy Trust and used to build new renewable energy facilities.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced last week that the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will invest up to $12 million in total funding ($10 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) in four companies to support the development of early-stage solar energy technologies and help them advance to full commercial scale. The goal of this effort is to help further expand a clean energy economy and make solar energy more cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity.

Efficient transport plays a crucial role in the development of society and its economy and, in many respects, commercial transport solutions are the lifeblood of the economy. At the same time, transportation has a negative impact on society, not least in the form of emissions and congestion. "The key is to strengthen the positive aspects of the transport system while working to combat the negative ones," says Stefan Lorentzson, President of Volvo Group North America. "The Volvo Group is continually developing new engine technologies which reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency."

The RES Alliance for Jobs is a coalition of businesses and organizations that support Congressional enactment of a strong federal renewable energy standard (RES). The group’s members include companies and associations representing the wind, solar, biomass, waste-to-energy and hydro power business lines. The Alliance seeks to demonstrate that a strong RES would create sustainable growth in the renewable energy industries, enabling manufacturers to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. economy and create hundreds of thousands of high-quality American jobs that cannot be outsourced.

One day before the Copenhagen climate change summit was scheduled to end, negotiations had deadlocked. Developing nations led by China were demanding that rich countries pledge as much as $200 billion a year to help them cope with drought, rising sea levels and other ravages of global warming already afflicting some of the poorest countries on Earth. For its part, the United States was insisting on international verification of carbon emission reductions, a condition anathema to China but viewed as essential to gain Congress’ approval.

A letter posted on the California Energy Commission’s web site last week reveals that the state had urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slow down implementation of rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources because it would create a “huge administrative burden.”

CPS Energy has reportedly dropped Toshiba from a $32 billion lawsuit stemming from now-defunct plans for the expansion of the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear plant in Matagorda County, Texas. The move was allegedly made to keep the case from being shifted to federal court.

A Texas district judge has reversed an order from the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to award billions of dollars in transmission projects relating to Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ), ruling that the regulatory agency should suspend the process until the PUC adequately weighs the costs and benefits to electric customers.