[View the story “World Cup power worries” on Storify]

England’s first football match in the World Cup versus Uruguay is predicted to cause the biggest UK surge in power demand in the tournament’s group stage. National Grid forecasters said a surge in demand of around 1,300MW is expected at half time in England’s second match as people switch on kettles and lights. A smaller […]

Chinese solar firm Yingli Green Energy claims it is on course to be the FIFA World Cup’s first ever carbon neutral sponsor. It plans to offset all carbon emissions from its promotional activities in Brazil including commercial displays, customer hospitality, media activities and employee travel and accommodation. Yingli has supplied more than 5,000 solar panels […]

When the glorious summer of football kicks off in Rio de Janeiro, all but a lucky few Brits will be watching the World Cup on the telly. What they might not realise is their viewing habits could make hefty demands on the electricity grid. Going on past experience of the Olympics and the Royal Wedding, […]

World Cup organisers have encouraged ticket holders to counter the carbon emissions from their journey to Brazil. They were asked to sign up to an official scheme offsetting emissions for free, no matter where in the world they are travelling from. All ticket holders with a valid FIFA.com Club account and a successful ticket request […]

Allegations of corruption in Qatar’s successful World Cup bid centre around a multi-million dollar gas deal for Thailand. A report in The Times claimed Qatari businessman Mohamed Bin Hammam arranged for Worawi Makudi, a Thai FIFA official, to hold talks with Qatar on a natural gas sale “potentially worth millions of dollars to Thailand”. Qatar’s […]

A fire on a farm in Brazil triggered a power blackout in eight states in the north-eastern part of the country yesterday, reports claim. Two sets of transmission lines that provide power to the nation’s populous states – including Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí, Alagoas, Ceará, Paraíba, Sergipe – were damaged. That caused […]

Brazil has opened its first football stadium powered by solar energy in preparation for next year’s FIFA World Cup, reports claim. The Minerao Stadium (pictured), located in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, was originally built in 1965 and has been fitted with a 1.4MW solar array on its rooftop. The project is said to […]

Barmy March weather in Northern Ireland has led to power cuts for around 40,000 homes in Belfast while more than 70 schools have been closed because of the storm winds and heavy snow. The power firm Northern Ireland Electricity said storm force winds of up to 55 mph have broken electricity lines and damaged poles […]

For the South American powerhouse getting ready to play host to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, oil still seems to be top dog, as ELN reporter Vicky Ellis finds out from some of the country’s big industry players including GE Brazil’s CEO Adriana Machado and Roberto Ramos of Odebrecht Oil & Gas.