News

• EU smart grid preparations lag technology advances

  20 October 2011

  The EU needs to do much more if it is to achieve sustainable electricity supplies managed by smart grids across the bloc's 27 member states, according to experts.

• IFC launches mechanism to fund clean-tech start-ups in developing world

  20 October 2011

  The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is piloting a mechanism to invest in early stage clean-tech companies 'home grown' in the developing world, and to help start-ups in industrialised countries begin operations in low-income countries.

• Investors 'not running for the exit' after Solyndra – Cleantech Group

  20 October 2011

  Investors will not shy away from the clean-tech sector because of the collapse of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, according to an executive from the Cleantech Group.

• EU backs project bonds for green energy infrastructure

  20 October 2011

  The European Commission is proposing to back project bonds that will make it easier to build and finance cross-border power lines and ultimately create an EU-wide power network.

• Directory to connect up renewables firms with capital

  20 October 2011

  The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and data provider Clean Energy pipeline have launched an online directory to help renewables project developers and entrepreneurs find investors.

• Financiers search for sustainable future

  20 October 2011

  Finance experts gathered in Washington, DC this week to decide how the sector can contribute to creating a stable and sustainable economy.

• CSAPR allowances allocated, but emitters remain wary

  19 October 2011

  Emitters across 28 US states received their first allowances under the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) new sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx) trading programme yesterday – but a deluge of legal challenges and unhappy precedents continue to discourage trading.

• Investors repeat call for 'investment-grade' climate policy

  19 October 2011

  Investors managing $20 trillion in assets have repeated a call for urgent "policy action" to stimulate private sector investment into solutions to climate change.

• Ceres offers investors 'water gauge', praises Nestle, Rio Tinto

  19 October 2011

  Investor coalition Ceres has launched a tool to help investors manage water risks across their investment portfolios.

• First UK councils LEEP to energy retrofits

  18 October 2011

  Local authorities are making moves to fund energy efficiency retrofits of private and social housing in their jurisdictions through the UK's Green Deal, with the ultimate aim of refinancing the projects through bonds in three or four years.