In a startling setback to the goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2°C, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Monday that carbon dioxide emissions last year were the highest in history.

An IEA press release noted that after a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt.

This weekend EWEA’s very own Sarah Azau ran a half-marathon in Brussels raising money for Renewable World – a charity that supports the development of renewable energy projects in some of the world’s poorest countries – we caught up with her the day after the race…

How did the race go and how do you feel today?

It went well and I am really happy with my time – I completed the 20 km course in 1 hour 38 minutes. But it was a tough race; I ran quicker than I normally do so at times I really had to will myself to keep going. Plus with 30,000 runners you spend a lot of time trying to overtake people, which can be a bit frustrating! However, the great support of the crowd and, above all, the knowledge that I was running to support the fantastic work of Renewable World really spurred me on.

The German government took a landmark decision this morning by deciding to phase out the use of nuclear power by 2022. The move stands to put Germany – a country where about a quarter of electricity needs were met by nuclear before March this year – on a path to massively increasing renewable energies and overhauling its grid infrastructure to meet its future electricity needs.

Eight of the 17 nuclear plants will be permanently switched off by the end of this year – seven of these are already disconnected from the grid for safety inspections following the Fukushima melt-down. The Financial Times Deutschland reported that Germany remains self-sufficient in electricity even without these reactors.

All over the world wind energy enthusiasts are preparing for Global Wind Day on 15 June 2011. In Austria, activities have already started!

As the first of 15 events, brave journalists were able to abseil from an 86m high wind turbine run by the company Ökowind in St.Pölten-Oberwagram.

Rick Needham, Google

Google Inc. is living up to its reputation as an environmentally-conscious company determined to take its part in a green energy revolution by providing €39 million to help finance a massive wind farm in southern California.

Rick Needham, Google’s Director of Green Business Operations, said this week that the search engine company has now invested more than €284 million in wind power and other renewables. He was speaking at the WINDPOWER 2011 Conference & Exhibition in California, organised by the American Wind Energy Association.