Ceres, director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), “a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling about $10 trillion,” informed us of the above, yesterday, as 450 global investors controlling tens of trillions of dollars from four continents gathered at the United Nations offices in … [continued]
Congressional commitment to action on clean energy policy in 2012 is about as secure as Kim Kardashian’s wedding vows.
So with states once again representing the major driver for renewable energy, how can they keep the momentum going at a time when federal enthusiasm is at its lowest level in years? The key, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution, is for states to focus not just on project-level deployment, but to shift some funds toward support broader sustainable economic goals that foster the clean energy economy from the ground up.
And there are still a fair amount of funds to work with on the state level, as the below map illustrates: […]
Continuing and expanding investments in clean energy is the smart choice to meet the next generation of energy challenges and produce a foundation of affordable, reliable, and clean energy alternatives.
Investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and “smart” energy technology surpassed the trillion-dollar milestone recently, while investments in renewable energy power plants are surpassing that for their fossil fuel counterparts, according to the latest reports from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
First Solar continues to shed ownership stakes in its thin-film solar PV mega-projects as tough economic and industry conditions prompt a more defensive posture. Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway have been known to swoop in and invest in businesses and industries experiencing difficult times, looking to realize greater value from them over the longer term.
Solar power, wind power, and even geothermal power have boomed in recent years in the U.S., making the country a leader in these fields. They’ve partly boomed due to dropping costs, more efficient technologies, and more energy-conscious people and businesses. However, a huge part of their growth has been due … [continued]
Folks out in Denver, Colorado applauded an announcement Thursday night from Gov. John Hickenlooper that GE had chosen Colorado, more specifically the Denver suburb of Aurora, as the site for a new thin-film solar manufacturing plant. GE anticipates investing as much as $600 million in the plant, which is expected to employ 400 workers involved in manufacturing as much as 400-megawatts (MW) worth of thin-film solar panels, enough to power 80,000 homes a year.
Clean tech investments rose 12% quarterly and 23% year-to-year in 3Q 2011, totaling $3.34 billion and 189 transactions. Slowing activity in major economies and the possibility of another breakdown in the global financial system hampered clean tech investment growth in 3Q, yet overall investment levels continued to exhibit strong growth, according to preliminary results of a Cleantech Group research report.
Check out this “World Energy Report” and my thoughts on some of the issues represented here…
Private equity firm Blackstone is investing in offshore wind in Germany in a big way. The company announced it had secured a total of 1.2 billion euros of financing for the 288MW Meerwind North Sea wind farm project, as well as obtaining a permit for Nordlicher Grund, a 64-turbine, 1.3 billion euro North Sea wind farm. A group of seven banks will provide 822 million euros in debt financing with Blackstone supplying Meerwind’s equity. Supporting the financing is Germany’s feed-in tariff, which locks in rates for Meerwind’s electricity output.
