The first day of the conferences focuses on ‘Smart Energy and Businesses’ and the second on ‘Smart Energy and Communities’ – both days feature sessions designed to explain the different technology options available, their features and their practical application, as well as an practical information on how each of these technologies will benefit under the new government incentives.

Special genes inserted into crop plants have a way of leaking into the environment. That much scientists know for sure. What they’re less certain about is what effect those genes have on plants growing in the wild.

Andrew Stephenson is interested in answering that question. He’s a plant ecologist at Penn State University. Plant breeders put things called transgenes into plants to give them desirable properties such as disease resistance.

“People were concerned that when the transgene escapes into the wild populations, it will provide a fitness advantage,” says Stephenson.

A fitness advantage means the wild plants, with this advantageous transgene, might grow out of control, mucking up the ecosystem.

Meet The Cucurbita

Stephenson studies a wild squash plant called cucurbita, the Texas gourd. It looks like a pumpkin plant, but with smaller leaves. The fruits are about the size of a baseball or softball, they’re round or slightly pear-shaped, and they taste terrible.

Cucurbita shows up throughout the American Southwest and Mexico. Stephenson wanted to know what would happen when his wild gourd picked up a transgene that’s used in cultivated squash to protect the crop from plant viruses.

So he purposely created a strain of Texas gourd with the transgene, and planted some next to the same gourd that didn’t have the transgene. Then he waited for spring, when aphids would bring a plant virus to the field.

Stephenson reports in the journal PNAS that as the virus spread through the field, it only affected the Texas gourd without the transgene.

In 2008, solar thermal heating and cooling solutions gained favour in more and more countries,’ says European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) president Olivier Drücke. ‘The solar thermal market in the EU and Switzerland grew by over 60% to 3.3 GWth of new capacity, that is 4.76 million m2 of collector area,’ he adds.

Inward investment in the UK has been bolstered by the opening of two new windfarms in the Highlands.

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WITH experts predicting an energy price burst in the near future, there has never been a better time to investigate ways of cutting your household bills. While many may be tempted to shop around for the best deal, a push is being made to get more people in Notts to consider setting up their own energy supply to meet their needs. The Energy Saving Trust is offering residents the chance to start planning for the long-term and investigate what renewable energy technology is available for their homes, and which suits them best. West Bridgford resident Jake Jackson is one of the first to have his home assessed by the trust’s renewable energy advisors. Mr Jackson, 59, who has lived in Villiers Road for 22 years, said he had been looking into renewable energy options for 18 months. >>> read more..