Archive

  • Advanced biofuels projects win flurry of US loan guarantees

    26 January 2011

    The US government is stepping up its support for advanced biofuels, with two federal agencies providing loan guarantees worth hundreds of millions, but the sector still faces funding and technology issues that are challenging its ability to scale-up operations.

  • Shareholders tell gas firms to 'frack' off

    26 January 2011

    Shareholder resolutions related to natural gas "fracking" practices have proven more popular and sometimes more effective in changing energy company practices than similar resolutions, partly due to tremendous media scrutiny, investor advocates said.

  • Renewable energy fund targets UK private investors

    26 January 2011

    Guinness Asset Management is aiming to raise £10 million ($16 million) from tax-paying UK citizens for a fund that will invest in renewable energy assets.

  • Masdar and others mull VC fund launches for 2011

    20 January 2011

    Masdar's venture capital unit is considering two fund launches in 2011, according to Erik Martel, a principal at the firm.

  • S&P to calculate green index for WWF fund

    13 January 2011

    S&P Indices is to calculate an index tracking the performance of listed green businesses for a subsidiary of environment group WWF, the Living Planet Fund (LPF).

  • Duke and Progress merger to ease financing for replacing coal

    13 January 2011

    The merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy will create the largest utility in the US, a super-utility that will be in a better position to finance the replacement of its ageing coal fleet than the companies could separately.

  • Impax assets rise 44%, portfolios defy clean-tech stock gloom

    13 January 2011

    Impax Asset Management reported a 44% rise in its assets under management last year to £1.8 billion ($2.8 billion), while its portfolios defied the gloom that afflicted indexes tracking clean technology and clean energy stocks. Since the end of the year, Impax's assets have risen again to £2.3 billion.

  • Carlyle to develop ESG metrics for private equity investments

    13 January 2011

    Private equity giant Carlyle plans to develop a set of metrics to measure the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of its portfolio companies.

  • Clean energy sees record $243bn investment in 2010

    12 January 2011

    Global investment in clean energy reached a record of $243 billion in 2010, a 30% increase on 2009 levels, according to research house Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

  • Venture capitalists close record number of clean technology deals

    12 January 2011

    Venture capital (VC) firms invested $7.8 billion in clean-tech firms in 2010, up 28% year-on-year, according to figures from the Cleantech Group. The California-based research and advisory firm tracked 715 deals last year, across North America, Europe, China and India, an annual record.