Renewable energy

US and UK to collaborate on 'floating' wind turbines - The new technology could allow Britain to harness the consistently higher wind speeds available over deeper water. (The Guardian)

Renewables 'help jobs and growth' - The renewable energy industry supports 110,000 jobs in the UK and could support 400,000 by 2020, a report says. (Richard Black, BBC)

Ethiopia and Mali Set to Advance Renewable Energy Plans - Ethiopia and Mali are set to begin preparing renewable energy projects specified in their investment plan under the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP) after successfully achieving investment plan endorsement from the SREP sub-committee at their meeting on 8 March 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. (Mafalda Duarte, All Africa)

Rio+20

New Rio+Social Speakers Include Innovators in Business, Philanthropy, Conservation, Journalism, Social Gaming and Government - The organizers of Rio+Social, a groundbreaking, global conversation about the nexus of social media, technology, and sustainability, today announced additional speakers who will discuss the latest innovations in multiple sectors that shape our world. (Amy DiElsi, PRWeb)

Top UN official: Accountability key at Rio meeting - A top U.N. official said Monday that efforts by states to honor their agreed environmental commitments should be measured through a performance evaluation that should be created during the upcoming U.N. gathering on sustainable development in Brazil. (Louise Nordstrom,CBS)

Mozambique: Road Map for a Green Economy Being Drawn Up - Mozambique's Environment Minister, Alcinda Abreu, announced in Maputo on Monday that the country is currently drawing up its "road map for the green economy" and its national report for the forthcoming Earth Summit, to be held in June in Rio de Janeiro. (All Africa)

Energy access

Access to energy for all by 2030? - In Europe, when children need to study after dark, they switch on the lights. When we are sick, we go to a doctor's office or hospital, where electricity powers the equipment. When we go to our offices and shops in the morning, we turn on the lights, computers, coffee makers and printers. (Andris Piebalgs and Kandeh Yumkella, EuropeanVoice)

World Bank allocates $1.8b for Pakistan this year - The World Bank has allocated an unprecedented amount of $1.8 billion for Pakistan’s development projects in the energy and water sectors. Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh made the announcement after holding a meeting with Vice President of the World Bank, Isabel Guerrero, on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual spring gathering of economic leaders from around the world. (International Herald Tribune)

AfDB Calls for More Climate Financing to Africa At Leds Partnership Meeting - The African Development Bank (AfDB) joined some 125 representatives from developed and developing countries, implementing organizations and multilateral institutions at the Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) Collaboration in Action workshop from 20-23 March 2012 outside of London, UK to advance a collaborative community of practice focused on promoting the low emission development agenda around the globe. (Mafalda Duarte, All Africa)

India powers up the world's largest solar plant - The West Indian state of Gujarat has flicked the switch on the first phase of the world’s largest solar power field, supplying a whopping 214MW of solar energy into India's struggling power grid. (ConstructionWeekOnline)

Energy efficiency

U.S. Teams with India in Massive New Biofuel Project - The U.S. has just launched a five-year, $125 million alternative energy research project with India, aimed partly at developing biofuels from non-food crops. (Tina Casey, CleanTechnica)

Meet the $60 ‘Earth Day’ LED light bulb - Just in time for Earth Day, Dutch electronics company Philips unveiled a new super energy-efficient light bulb Sunday with a shelf life that should last about 25 years. (Tom Cheredar, The Washington Post)