Simplifying finance vehicles for renewable energy will lure more investors and lower the costs of capital.

Clean energy investment rose by 9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on surging demand for rooftop solar panels from the U.S. to Japan.

China, the world’s biggest investor in renewable energy, reiterated plans to boost construction of solar and wind power plants along with projects to transmit electricity from the clean sources.

The Obama administration is considering cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants by reaching beyond the plants themselves — an unusual approach that could run afoul of anti-pollution laws.

Spain set new rates for electricity suppliers that use renewable sources, waste and co-generation based on a “reasonable return,” formally ending a subsidy system dating to the 1990s that had spun out of control.

Shinsei Bank Ltd., a lender for Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s clean-energy projects in Japan, plans to provide as much as 200 billion yen (US $2 billion) in loans for renewable developments.

Australia is frightening developers away from renewable energy even before the government decides whether to overhaul targets for the industry’s growth.

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.

Abengoa SA, a Spanish energy and environment company, plans to issue its first green bond to raise 500 million euros ($642 million) to finance projects.

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.

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.

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.

Clean energy investment rose for the first time in three years in 2014, overcoming a slump in oil prices that unsettled the outlook for the industry.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scientists and economists including BP Plc’s former chief executive officer, John Browne, are inviting governments to join a $150 billion program that aims to make clean energy cheaper than coal.

Stocks of clean-energy companies are proving to be better investments than those of companies that produce most of the Western Hemisphere's power, and are outperforming the rest of the stock market as well.

The evidence is found in the New York Stock Exchange Bloomberg Americas Clean Energy Index. Its 141 companies, all based in North and South America, returned 32.62 percent in the past two years. In contrast, the 40 conventional-energy companies in the Standard and Poor's 500 Energy Index returned 1.02 percent over the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Clean energy also is beating the rest of the stock market. The Clean Energy Index is up 6.02 percent so far this year. Lagging behind are both the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 Index, which gained 3.12 percent and 3.86 percent respectively in 2015.

Recently I traveled to San Francisco to participate in international efforts to meet the challenge of climate change and accelerate the global transition to clean energy. The main event was the Seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7), a meeting of 23 countries and the European Commission.

In the case of the Fossil Fuel Industry, et. al. VS Earth, et. al., I find myself asking—not for the first time—is justice delayed, justice denied? It should come as no surprise that I am convinced it is.

By the time this column is published, oral arguments in the legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan will have already been made. The en banc panel of 10 appeals court judges is not likely to render its decision before the New Year.  No matter the opinion, it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In New York, Raymond James released its Clean Tech Primer 2017, arguably the most cogent and concise summary of activity and prospects across the gamut from solar power through to water technology, including all biofuels, biopower and bioindustrials.

Eversheds Sutherland’s Africa Group has recently announced a number of new leadership roles for John Kemkers (Head of the Africa Group), Wesley Pydiamah (Deputy Head of the Africa Group) and Farès Koussay El Heni (Deputy Head of the Afr...

The oil slump, global recession and uncertainty about the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic will fuel the appetite for cheaper fossil fuel energy and delay investments in renewables, affecting the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The countries of the developing South, and in particular oil exporters, […]

The post The Crises of 2020 Will Delay the Transition to Clean Energy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Prague Daily Monitor

The Czech Republic has not recorded a positive test on any suspected patients to date. There have been several suspected cases, mostly from Chinese tourists in North Moravia, Brno and Prague. Futhermore, even the Czechs that were evacuated from China last week have thus far not been tested positive for the virus. There remain 105 Czech citizens in China whom want to return home. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petricek communicated to media that if need be the country will send an airbus to China to pick them up.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and revealed to what extent current economic models are not sustainable. It has also shown that most countries are not equipped to cope with a health crisis. The World Food Program is warning that the lives and livelihoods of 265 million people in low and middle-income countries will be […]

The post The Unseen Link Between Clean Cooking and the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The historic spirit of cross-border trade in Central Asia is being revived in the energy sector.

ADB Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2020 is going virtual and will be held during the week of 15-19 June 2020.

ADB, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is providing more sanitary water-tight pit latrines for 330 homes in Mongolia's Arvaikheer city.

A new water and sewage plant in Ebeye, one of the most densely populated locations on earth, is helping to ease the prevalence of water-borne diseases.

A peer to peer discussion on how ADB works with the private sector to fill the investment gaps and finance facilities that generate and distribute clean energy.

Thanks to investment from Australia and ADB, a new clean water plant in Ebeye, in the north-west corner of the Marshall Islands, is changing lives.

Kate Darling researches human-robot interaction. She explains why we are prone to forming emotional connections with robots and what we can learn from our relationships with pets and other animals

It might be hard to imagine but space is getting crowded. ‘Space junk’ is becoming a dangerous hazard for orbiting satellites, and now some countries are joining forces to tackle it.

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Category: Health News
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