A mosque set to be built in the western province of Bursa will use solar and wind power to produce electricity. Nilufer Trade Center Mosque, which is set to be completed in 2015, may be the first mosque in Turkey that produces and uses renewable energy. Celik Erengezgin, the architect of the mosque project, believes that the project will be an example for other mosques. Solar panels will be placed on top of the mosque. A wind turbine will be installed on the minaret. Also snow and rain water will be collected for the worshippers' water needs. The mosque will produce its own energy and sell what it does not use. The mosque will produce 120 kilowatt of electricity but consumes only 50 kilowatt. The remaining amount can be sold to the state. Erengezgin said Turkey's Religious Affairs Department had responded positively to his project. He also wanted to produce electricity from the pressure exerted on the floor by the worshippers during prayers. This is not part of the current project but he hopes to implement it also. "We will tell the worshippers, you can charge your cell phones here, because you have produced this energy, while praying on the floor of the mosque".

Belgium is set to construct an artificial island in the North Sea that will be used solely as storage for wind energy. Announcing the plans earlier this week, Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Lanotte explained that although Belgium has the capacity to produce a great deal of wind energy, much of the power produced during high winds exceeds the needs of the grid, and is wasted. By creating a dependable storage system for the wind energy, Belgium hopes that this innovative solution will help the nation to transition away from nuclear power and towards greater use of renewables. Only around 4 percent of Belgium's energy presently comes from wind power-the rest of the grid is supplied largely by nuclear power. However Belgium, as with Germany and Switzerland, has decided to shut down its nuclear power program by 2025 in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. The project for the artificial island is part of the state's larger initiative to reorient its power supply towards renewable energy sources. The European Wind Energy Association predicts that, by managing to store energy produced by using wind power, Belgium could expand its wind power capacity to over 4.000 megawatts by 2020. As an alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuel, wind power has so far faced major problems, largely due to insufficient ways to store the generated power. When the wind dies down, energy production must be backed up by a power source, which makes it expensive to operate. "We have a lot of energy from the wind mills and sometimes it just gets lost because there isn't enough demand for the electricity," said a spokeswoman for Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotte. The doughnut-shaped island will store energy by pumping water out of a hollow space in the middle and allowing it to flow back into the reservoir by turning a turbine to generate electricity. The electricity can then be sent back to the mainland.

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, countries around the world questioned the value of nuclear power - and Japan, reeling from the impact, vowed to become nuclear-free by 2040. Japan became completely nuclear free for the first time since 1970 as it shut down the Tomari nuclear reactor on the island of Hokkaido in May of last year. But now, with the tragedy seemingly fading from memory, the newly elected Japanese government has decided to reverse this decision and once again invest in that same energy that is still damaging the Japanese environment. Prior to the Fukushima disaster, which occurred in March 2011, the Japanese government had pledged to increase nuclear energy in Japan from 30-percent to 50-percent. The disaster sent dangerously high levels of radioactive material into the surrounding air, water and soil and the effects of the radioactivity will be felt for decades. Last month the elected conservative Liberal Democratic Party took control of the government and with it, killed any hope of a nuclear free Japan for the foreseeable future. The government has pledged to re-open dormant reactors if they pass safety tests and has not ruled out the possibility of building new reactors. Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan's trade minister says that he will not risk reviving Japan's economy at the cost of nuclear freedom. Since all but two of Japan's reactors have been shut down, it will likely take months or years to get things up and running again. Only time will tell if the people of Japan will support or reject nuclear energy.

A groundbreaking ceremony is hosted last week in celebration of the start of construction of Japan's largest solar and wind power plant, located in Tahara City. The major project will be spread over 800 thousand square meters and is estimated to generate 67.5 thousand megawatt hours of electricity each year which would be enough to power 90 percent of the homes in Tahara City with green energy. It is also thought that the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions each year will be approximately 32 thousand tones. The solar and wind power plant is part of a collaboration of seven firms (Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsui & Co, C-Tech Corporation, Toagosei Co, Toshiba Corporation, Toray Industries, and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co) who initiated the project last October, with permission granted in September 2012. Design and construction on the plant is US$ 225 million with the majority of the money being sourced through loans from the Development Bank of Japan. The participating companies will maintain a cooperative technological relationship with the Chubu Electric Power Co., and will acquire new technology and knowledge unique to the nation's largest solar energy generation facility.

Two hydro power plants (HPPs)-namely, Meghri and Gharachikar-will be built on the Arax River with Armenian-Iranian cooperation. The groundbreaking ceremony of Meghri HPP was held on November 8 on the Armenian side of the border, reported News.am. The agreement on the hydro power plant construction received in 2007-2008. Two inter-governmental agreements have been ratified by the parliaments of both countries. Meghri HPP will have an installed capacity 130 megawatts and produce about 800 million kW/h electricity per year. The plant will be constructed in compliance with the internationally accepted environmental standards. The investor from the Iranian side is "Tavan Ab Araz Company" which, in line with the already-signed agreement, will resolve all matters connected with Meghri HPP's construction and starting of its operation. The construction will be carried out within 5 years and, 15 years thereafter, the plant will be transferred to the Armenian side at no cost. Also, an agreement is reached whereby solely local manpower will be used for the plant's construction.