A new, squeaky clean business venture is helping Calgary’s most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police and City of Vancouver park rangers escorted the last person living in Oppenheimer Park out of the tent city Saturday afternoon, moments before crews with excavators moved in to clean up the mountains of trash left behind.

Poor data quality and integration can cause a marketing mess.

Investments in new clean-energy capacity will total $1.61 trillion through 2020 even as the expansion of renewables is expected to slow, the International Energy Agency said.

Clean energy stocks and the market in general rebounded strongly in August. My broad market benchmark of small cap stocks, IWM, rose 4.5 percent, returning to positive territory up 1.7 percent for the year. My clean energy benchmark PBW also jumped back into the black with an 11.1 percent gain for the month and 10.8 percent for the year to date.

The threat of climate change is driving China and the U.S. — frequent rivals and the world’s two largest greenhouse-gas emitters — to collaborate on dozens of potential clean-energy breakthroughs.

Europe’s concern about its reliance on Russian fossil fuels may spur governments to prioritize alternative energy, the head of Neste Oil Oyj said.

Worries including the conflict with ISIL, Ebola, and economic slow-down in Europe, sent the stock market down in the month to October 3rd, with small cap stocks and clean energy stocks falling even farther than the large cap S&P 500.

European Union governments are considering the use of carbon-permit funds to help finance clean technologies and spur poorer nations toward a low-carbon economy under a planned deal on 2030 climate and energy policies.

German electricity consumers will for the first time see a drop in the fee added to their bills to fund renewables, a boost for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pledged to curb the cost for voters.

Last month, NRDC engaged a nationally recognized opinion research firm to conduct polling in New York State to evaluate public attitudes about fracking and clean energy. Importantly, this is the first statewide poll in at least two years — and perhaps ever — to directly ask residents their views of the now six-year-old de facto moratorium on fracking.

October was a spooky month for clean energy stocks. My benchmark Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Index (PBW) cringed down 2.9 percent like the young Supergirl who jumped when a mechanical ghost startled her at my door Haloween night.

The clean energy revolution is now, and the U.S. Energy Department is stepping up its commitment to help innovators commercialize their best ideas. At the recent Industry Growth Forum (IGF) in Denver, Colorado, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson announced the new Lab-Corps program to accelerate the transfer of clean energy technologies from the national laboratories to the marketplace, so that game-changing innovations don't languish for lack of money and equipment.

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) — whose members include Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP, and others — was caught red-handed late last month when a leaked internal presentation revealed a coordinated campaign to stomp out climate and clean energy progress in California, Oregon and Washington by propping up over 15 front groups that purport to represent the views of concerned citizens and the broader business community.

Let's review some notable news headlines from the month of November.

Shinzo Abe’s re-election as prime minister risks undercutting Japan’s commitment to clean energy at a time when incentives are under review and the nation’s utilities say they can’t accommodate capacity already planned.

The last two months have not been kind to clean energy stocks. Most commentators attribute the weakness to declining oil prices and the Republicans' strong showing in the midterm elections.

For the past 13 years, Clean Edge has published the annual Clean Energy Trends report that has sized the global market for solar, wind, and biofuels and tracked everything from venture capital and stock market activity to total global investments. This year, instead of issuing one single report, we'll be producing infographics, tables, charts, and webinars throughout the year – so be on the lookout in the coming weeks and months.

Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

A tool only has value if it’s used. For example, you could be the sort of person who’s set a goal of wanting to exercise more. If someone gives you a nifty little Fitbit to help you do that, and you never open the box, how useful, then, is this little device? The same is true about smart energy management solutions: good tools exist, but whether it’s calories or energy use that you want to cut, at some point those helpful devices need to be unpacked.

California’s bet on green energy is paying off, with clean technology companies creating more jobs and investing more money than competitors in any other state.

The recent dramatic plunge in oil and natural gas prices, to their lowest level since the global recession in 2009, has some observers worried about the effect on clean tech. Conventional wisdom has it that renewables have a tougher time competing when fossil fuels are cheap, making grid parity (in the case of natural gas-fired electricity) more elusive for solar and wind power.

2015 got off to a rocky start for both the broad market in general, as well as clean energy.

Labor, business, and environmental leaders have formed a unique coalition that will urge Illinois lawmakers to pass new standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy, leading to tens of thousands of new, local jobs.

Cleantech investing has taken quite a hit in recent years. Last year, CBS News highlighted the “cleantech crash” on U.S. primetime television, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a Bloomberg-owned energy data firm, has tracked the multi-year decline in cleantech investing. However, there are additional trends that tell another side of the cleantech story and suggest innovation and hope for a low-cost, low-carbon future are far from gone.

In a crammed Washington conference room last week, speaker after speaker seemed to apologize for their ‘broken record’ talking points as Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy unveiled their annual Factbook. But, of course, they were only being honest — like 2013 before it, 2014 had been an unprecedented year for clean energy.

Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its aggressive Clean Power Plan (CPP), which calls to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels. States are required to submit reduction plans that can include increasing renewables, efficiency, and cap and trade programs by June 2016.

When I worked at the New York Attorney General's Office, we sued coal-fired power plants because their air pollution was making people sick. But in some towns, I saw that the reliance on coal really had people in a bind. The coal plant was making them sick, but it was also a major tax generator for the town. If the plant closed, the town might have to lay off teachers and cops, in addition to losing the plant jobs.

Apple and Google have changed our lives forever, both because of their technological innovations and sheer size as global corporations. Now, they’re aiming to reshape the energy landscape.

After a rough start to the year, My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 posted a strong recovery in February.

Policies favoring clean energy and increased competition would normally dim prospects for existing producers. Not in Chile, where foreign investors are driving a renewable boom at a time of surging returns by local utilities.

Business leaders have an important decision to make this year: to continue operating under the status quo or to join the list of successful companies creating a more sustainable future by contracting or investing in renewable energy and making a positive impact on their brand, customers, employees and bottom line.

U.K. electricity from low-carbon sources accounted for almost a quarter of the country’s generation in the fourth quarter as Drax Group Plc converted a second coal-power plant to burn wood.

My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio added a second month to its winning streak, with a 6.1 percent gain for the month and a 5.7 percent gain for the year, despite a continued drag by the strong dollar. If measured in terms of the companies' local currencies, the portfolio would have been up 7.5 percent for the month and 10.5 percent for the quarter or year to date. For comparison, the broad universe of US small cap stocks rose 1.5 percent for the month and 4.0 percent for quarter, as measured by IWM, the Russell 2000 index ETF.

Global investment in clean energy slumped 15 percent in the first quarter to the lowest level in two years because of a decline in wind and utility-scale projects.

Political deadlock over Australia’s clean energy future is prompting companies such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Acciona SA to increasingly turn to rival markets for growth.

Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first ever national carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. Fossil fuel-fired power plants account for almost 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, making them the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the nation and one of the single largest categories of greenhouse gas sources in the world.

Japan anticipates that by 2030 clean energy such as solar and hydro will generate slightly more of the nation’s electricity than nuclear power plants.

The World Bank indicated in its new report "Building Competitive Green Industries: The Climate and Clean Technology Opportunity for Developing Countries" that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries are set to undergo significant growth and create more jobs in the field of clean technology. Anabel Gonzalez, senior director for the World Bank's Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness, said developing home-grown clean-tech industries will help developing countries more effectively increase the adoption of low-cost clean energy and drive sustainable economic development.

With the UK general election now over and a majority Conservative Party government in place, the re-elected Prime Minister David Cameron has now named key members of the government charged with steering the UK’s clean energy policy over the coming years.

A new government analysis of President Barack Obama’s signature effort to fight climate change affirms what critics suspected: the proposal could further weaken an already battered coal industry.

Pope Francis turned a keen eye toward the environment and the problem of climate change with his encyclical,“Laudato Si” (“Praised Be”). As a clean energy advocate, I’m heartened that Pope Francis recognizes the need to transform our energy system.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) chose Sandia National Laboratories as one of five leads in a pilot that will give small, clean-energy companies access to national laboratory expertise and resources. Sandia will receive $2.75 million of DOE’s $20 million investment to launch the voucher pilot for small business assistance and collaborative research.

This month alone, we Americans celebrated our nation’s birthday, capped off perfectly by the USA women’s soccer team’s sensational 5-2 victory in the World Cup final. As we hit the halfway point of 2015, the clean-energy industry also has much to celebrate, much of it in the month of June alone and much of it financial.

After a year of being pummeled by opponents, Obama’s final carbon reduction plan emerged this week with an even stronger push for renewable energy.

Wind and solar energy are centerpieces of the Clean Power Plan, the United States’ first ever rule to reduce carbon dioxide from power plants.

The rule not only makes renewables one of the plan’s three central building blocks, but also creates special incentives to spur communities to build renewables more quickly than required.

The revised version of the rule comes after a year of review, hundreds of meetings and 4.3 million public comments delivered to EPA.  It requires that states come up with plans to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 870 million tons, or 32 percent below 2005 levels, in 2030.

Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd., in a press release on Nov. 1, announced it intends to change its name to Carnegie Clean Energy Ltd. (CCE).
 

In the third quarter, clean energy stocks in general continued their upward trend, turning in a 27 percent gain for the quarter and a 64 percent gain for the year as a whole, as measured by my benchmark and most broadly held clean energy ETF, Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy (PBW.) This brings PBW back up to levels last seen in September 2011.

Clean-energy investment fell 14 percent in the third quarter from the prior three months as Europe curbed subsidies and cheaper U.S. natural gas lured investment.

It's been a busy six weeks since I last updated readers on the news events driving my Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2013 and six alternative picks. I looked into the performance of the portfolio as a whole at the start of the month, along with some comments about the four renewable energy developers. I thought at the time we might be seeing a bottom for these beleaguered stocks, but if I was right, we have yet to see the upturn. Nevertheless, the fundamental factors I discussed are still in place.