Yes, you read that right, it’s billion, with a B, like a thousand million… Now this is further proof that cleantech and renewables DO make sense financially. Otherwise, why would such a bank invests so much in them ?
Investment
Cheap oil won’t kill the cleantech revolution
With the current low prices of oil – they are now around $50 – one could think that solar, wind and the likes wouldn’t be this interesting as an alternative. Luckily, it isn’t the case at all. Let’s see why.
Fossil fuels are the next subprime danger
Here is further proof it’s high time to divest to avoid the carbon bubble. The Daily Telegraph published this week a most interesting article on how fossil fuels – oil, coal and natural gas – are the next subprime danger of this cycle as
“ The cumulative blitz on energy exploration and production over the past six years has been $5.4 trillion, yet little has come of it. ” There are may reasons for such pessimism on these investment. the author notes among them a few :
Expensive exploration and production with little return ; potential limits to CO2 levels to 450 particles per million ; the increased competitiveness of renewables such as solar and wind…
Footsie launches interesting tool for divestment
As the NRDC noted : ” The Natural Resources Defense Council, BlackRock and FTSE Group, the global index provider, partnered today in launching the first equity global index series that will exclude companies linked to carbon-based fossil fuel. “ ” The new investment tool will allow climate-conscious investors, including foundations, universities and certain pension groups, to match … Read more
A trillion dollar a year in cleantech is needed
A thousand billion dollars, this the kind of money we need to invest every year to keep the world from warming more than two degrees Celsius, according to the UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, quoting IEA figures.
In an interview with the Guardian, she stated that investments in clean technologies have to at least triple – from around $300 billion currently – in the next 15 years to avert a climate catastrophe.
Doing this would require involving the world’s biggest investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and investment managers, which control about $76tn in assets.
Google invests $3.2 billion in Nest Labs
This was the big news of the week in the cleantech sphere, Google has bought Nest Labs for a massive $3.2 billion (2.34 billion euros). Nest is famous for its smart thermostat, which I wrote about in November 2011. Google is thus investing massively in the smart connected home market. As Cleantechies remarks, the company … Read more
How companies could save money and our climate
According to a brilliant report published in 2013 by the WWF : ” The US corporate sector, excluding utilities, could capture up to US$190 billion in net savings in 2020 alone by reducing energy related emissions by 3.2 percent each year on average. “
” Between 2010 and 2020, the US corporate sector can unlock up to $1.26 trillion in savings. Unlocking those savings would require capital expenditures of approximately $480 billion, resulting in a savings of up to $780 billion “
You won’t be surprised to read that this would be possible by investing more in increased energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, mainly solar PV.
The value of a well insulated home
While browsing Cleantechnica I found the answer of a key question I have been having ever since writing my Master’s thesis. French houses are leaky ” thermal collanders “ as 20 million accommodations have to be weatherized.
Potential savings could be the equivalent of 200 TWh of electricity per annum, knowing that the total electricity consumption in France is of 473 TWh. I had been wondering if this was the case in other countries.
But given this brilliant article, French dwellings aren’t the only one to be vastly inefficient. as similar data are mentioned : old houses need 300 kWh per square meter per year.
Climate inaction is bad for investors
To Climate Progress : ” A new survey of investors and asset managers from around the world revealed rapidly growing concern that national policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions are “inadequate, inconsistent and halting.”
” The report was put together by the Global Investor Coalition On Climate Change. Together it represents 84 different firms — including both owners and managers — with a combined total of $14 trillion in assets. “
” (…) But underlying the numbers is a growing frustration that national governments are not doing enough to lay down consistent and long-term policies. “
Five very important actions to fight climate change
If you are scared – or even simply concerned – by climate change, odds are that you might have weatherized your place, turned to efficient appliances and lightbulbs and perhaps even ditched your car.
While these actions and many others are quite obvious, they might not have the biggest impacts. Kelly Rigg, the Executive Director of the Global Call for Climate Action published a very interesting article on how you could do much much more.
To her, crowdfunding renewables, buying climate bonds (!), divesting from fossil fuels in your pension and mutual funds, voting with your wallet and joining a climate campaign are the next steps.
Turning trash to gold : global waste market to double
According to a leading American bank, the global waste industry could double to $2 trillion by 2020. This is due to as Business Green notes to ” the combination of urbanisation, looming resource shortages and environmental regulation “
This takes into account municipal and industrial waste management, recycling, waste-to-energy and sustainable packaging. Europe is seen as facing the “toughest strategic challenges ” while Asia and Latin America see the fastest growth.
Opportunities are due to abound in waste management, waste to energy (WtE), wastewater and sewage and recycling among others.