News

• Fulcrum Bioenergy files for $115m IPO

  26 September 2011

  Fulcrum Bioenergy has joined the flurry of US biofuels companies hoping to raise cash from the public markets.

• RAN finds fault with BNP Paribas coal policy

  26 September 2011

  BNP Paribas' policy on lending to the coal-fired power sector "contains loopholes big enough to drive a bulldozer through", according to the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) – although the activist's group's criticism of the French bank's new policy is comparatively muted.

• Republicans 'exploiting' Solyndra to strip renewables funding

  26 September 2011

  Republicans in the US House of Representatives are exploiting the bankruptcy of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra to strip funding for the Department of Energy's (DOE) loan guarantee programme for renewable energy, according to Democratic legislators.

• Solar rooftop projects look to securitisation

  23 September 2011

  Securitisation could be a viable financing mechanism for solar rooftop projects in the US, but rating agencies are still struggling with how to assess these deals, according to financing experts.

• Novozymes targets multi-billion dollar African charcoal market with green alternative

  22 September 2011

  Novozymes is to help finance a novel integrated food and energy venture in Mozambique which aims to displace charcoal with biofuel – offering a more sustainable alternative, it says, with a view to opening a massive market.

• US loan guarantee deadline will be missed, concedes DOE

  22 September 2011

  Disappointment awaits some of the renewables developers hoping their loan guarantees will be approved before next week's deadline, according to a US Department of Energy official. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives are questioning whether the department is rushing to complete approvals in light of its role in funding the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra.

• Developer casts doubt on eastern European renewables plans

  22 September 2011

  Some plans laid down by eastern European countries on how to meet their EU renewable energy targets by 2020 are based on "heroic assumptions", according to a developer active in the region.

• PACE consortium directs $1.5bn to energy-efficient buildings

  22 September 2011

  A new consortium will invest $1.5 billion in private capital to support US cities in financing energy retrofits in the commercial sector, utilising the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model.

• Carbon offset markets key to $100bn climate finance target – World Bank

  22 September 2011

  Removing fossil fuel subsidies, pricing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at $25 a tonne and a thriving carbon offset market are key to providing the developing world with $100 billion a year in climate finance, according to a leaked World Bank report.

• Bond markets could finance UK home retrofits

  20 September 2011

  To finance energy-saving improvements to thousands of UK homes, local authorities should band together to form a 'Green Deal warehouse' and issue bonds, a report due out tomorrow will argue.