Using reegle, the Online Information Gateway for the Renewable Energy Industry

I had the chance to use reegle recently – the online information gateway and “actors’ catalogue” for the renewable energy industry.

reegle can connect users to information on jurisdiction & laws, policies & measures, finance & investment opportunities, reports & analyses, as well as the latest news. It also allows you to search its comprehensive database and information resources for “actors” - such as investors, developers and organizations - geographically and by keyword if you want, as well as through various “sectors.” Sound complicated? Remarkably, it’s not. reegle is explained in this pdf tour.

There are 3 search interfaces, two of which have already gone online. The first search interface to launch, the Actors' Catalogue, became operational last November. The Basic Search, which was officially launched today in New York at the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Auditorium (featured on our events list in the sidebar -->), went online sometime this month. The third interface to launch will be the Intelligent Search, which should be widely anticipated this autumn as it will employ semantic web technology to enable knowledge mapping. Learn more about semantic web technology here.

Yesterday I used the Actors’ Catalogue to find new renewable energy organizations and financing businesses in the USA. You can chose which actor categories you want to search for – NGOs, businesses, financing, the media, international and regional organizations, etc. Next you may limit your sweep to a geographical location (or keep it world-wide), and finally select the sectors you want to search within – climate protection, rural electrification, solar, wind, biofuel, etc. You may throw in a keyword or two to narrow down the search – and viola – a list of organizations and businesses that fall within your query pops onto the screen, with contact information, web URL’s and descriptions available.

Today I searched for reports and studies in the USA, on finance & investment of rural electrification, wind power and solar power projects to try out the new Basic Search. (Using Basic Search will allow you to find news, research documents and reports and to peruse legal information). Reports were at my fingertips in under a minute.

Where does the information come from? reegle culls information from three main sources including its own database, a network of databases belonging to its knowledge partners (including but not limited to the World Bank Group, the World Energy Council and the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy), and finally from the most relevant and authoritative data sources on the web – which reegle continuously evaluates.

I found the service to be substantially helpful. The interface was not complicated, and it was easy to travel back to re-adjust search parameters in order to yield more accurate results. And the breadth of data on types of sectors and actors was amazing. I will definitely be using reegle again. reegle is undoubtedly an indispensable resource for all players working to move the global economy toward the age of renewable energy.


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