We told you about the EU Sustainable Energy Week that took place April 11th-15th and all the events that took place, right? Well, one of the last events of the week was the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards presentation. The prizes honor the best of the best in sustainable energy innovation in Europe. This year, 6 different projects were tapped as the top in their field.

 

The "Solar Decathlon Europe" from Madrid's Autonomous University won the award for best communication. It pits universities from around the world against each other as they compete to build the best and most innovative energy self-sufficient houses. "The Strawberry Tree" from Serbia won the award for the best consuming project. It involves a public solar-powered cell phone charging station in central Belgrade that also raises awareness about environmental issues and educates people about renewable energy sources.

 

One of the most active projects to be honored was the "Cycling City Councillors" (or Stadtradeln) from right here in Germany! This project, which won the traveling award, is as easy as it sounds: it focuses on promoting an easy, reliable and eco-friendly mode of transportation–the bicycle. Local leaders team up with citizens to go car-free and emissions-free, and it's been a huge success so far.

 

You can read about the rest of the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards here. Which one do you like the best? Or do you know of a cool, award-worthy project that wasn't honored?

Did you know that Greenpeace broke a Facebook record this week? The international environmental organization got the most comments ever on a Facebook post in 24 hours–80,000! And that was after setting a goal of 50,000. The comments came in all different languages from around the world, all on Greenpeace's "Unfriend Coal" page.

 

Greenpeace launched the record-setting drive as a way to step up its pressure on Facebook. The company still relies on coal to power its data centers and some of its other operations, and Greenpeace has been calling on Facebook to go coal-free for more than a year. Now they're urging the social networking company to achieve that goal by Earth Day 2011 on April 22nd. Facebook, for its part, has been making efforts to change its data centers into cleaner, more green-friendly operations.

 

The "Unfriend Coal" campaign is ongoing, so you can check it out and see if you want to take part!

More and more companies these days are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and introduce more eco-friendly business practices. But it's not always easy to figure out just how to make a company greener. That's why the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has released a new guide that helps businesses become green-friendly by better understanding the value of important ecosystem services they use, like water and crops.

 

The Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation, or CEV, helps companies weigh risks and opportunities and then make decisions based on how the ecosystem services around them will be impacted. It explains the level of ecosystem degradation, for example, that comes from problems like a lack of water and CO2 emissions. So far, fourteen companies have used CEV to reevaluate their own business practices, including Eni and Rio Tinto.

 

Do you work for a company that takes environmental factors into consideration? Or know one?

Monday marked the start of the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2011. The week-long initiative began back in 2005 as a way to raise awareness about the importance of renewable energy in Europe and address issues in the industry. There are hundreds of events that will take place between April 11th and April 15th across Europe–and more than 30,000 people in 43 countries will take part.

 

The European Commission is behind the event, and it showed support for alternative energy with a new plan for deploying smart grids and meters. The concept behind the plan is a meter system called "Smart Grid Communication" that could save consumers up to 10% on their energy bills.

 

The official EU website for the Sustainable Energy Week has an interactive map where you can check out what's going on in your country and when. But if you live in an area where there are no activities planned, you can organize your own Energy Day! There are even special flyers available on the website!

Ethiopia is building the biggest hydropower plant in Africa. It will be called the "Grand Millennium Dam" and it'll be constructed right on the Nile river, about 40 kilometers from the Sudanese border. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has already laid down the cornerstone on the dam.

 

The Grand Millennium Dam, which will cost about $4.8 billion US dollars,  is expected to generate 5,250 megawatts of energy and be completed in just four years. Just to give you a little perspective, Ethiopia's new hydropower plant will have the ability to generate twice as much energy as Hoover Dam in the U.S. Ethiopia has a lot of potential when it comes to hydropower, and officials there want to tap into that opportunity. Plus the plant will provide jobs and an economic boost to the country.

 

Is hydropower underutilized in your country? Tell us about the hydropower projects in your area!