News

• Fossil fuel-free Pepsi 'doable' says analyst

  20 January 2011

  Pepisco's plans to go fossil fuel-free in the UK and Ireland by 2023 are entirely feasible – provided the company is prepared to pay, an analyst says.

• China state visit nods to climate, energy issues

  20 January 2011

  Energy and climate change issues are competing for attention on a packed agenda as the presidents of the US and China meet this week in Washington, DC.

• Vestas wins Zayed Future Energy Prize, donates money to finalists

  19 January 2011

  Danish wind turbine maker Vestas was yesterday named the third winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, but declined to accept the $1.5 million which comes with the award.

• Green certificate trading given green light in California

  17 January 2011

  California's energy regulator has lifted a moratorium on utilities meeting renewable energy targets using renewable energy certificates (RECs) traded separately from the underlying power, but has maintained a tight cap on the percentage of the RECs that can be used to meet the state's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS).

• 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.

• Cat bond market tipped for $7bn in 2011

  13 January 2011

  Insurance experts have painted a rosy picture of the catastrophe bond market, with some predicting issuances in 2011 will reach $7 billion, up from $4.8 billion last year.

• 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).