Venezuela bans billboard lighting during crisis
CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Venezuela has banned illuminated billboards as the country struggles with severe electricity shortages.
It's the latest measure aimed at reducing power consumption, which has become a top priority for President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez blames the shortages on a months-long drought attributed to changed weather patterns due to the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific.
Water levels have fallen to critical lows behind the Guri Dam, which supplies roughly 70 percent of Venezuela's electricity.
Government opponents accuse Chavez of failing to invest enough in electrical projects to meet growing demand over the last decade.
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Wind Leading Power
LONDON - Wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK.
In the first three months of this year a third of the country's electricity came from wind farms, research from Imperial College London has shown.
National Grid has also confirmed that April saw a record period of solar energy generation.
By 2035 the UK aims for all of its electricity to have net zero emissions.
"There are still many hurdles to reaching a completely fossil fuel-free grid, but wind out-supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event," said Iain Staffell, energy researcher at Imperial…
