Rio de Janeiro has seen its share of energy sector action this year, and the rollout of new data underlining the appeal of both renewable energy itself as well as the products made with renewable energy is burnishing the city’s reputation as a leading destination for companies, investors and thought leaders from across the region and the world.
Developing countries are driving growth in renewable energy production and usage as developed nations back away from earlier government commitments to financing mechanisms. Brazil has a swiftly growing wind energy sector that underlines the commitment at both the government and corporate levels to expanding renewable energy use even as the oil and gas sector drive export market oriented investment in new fossil fuel production.
Vestas joined with Bloomberg New Energy Finance this week to kick off the rollout of huge new data sets that emphasize the scale of the opportunity in renewable energy at the center of a number of the major global trends in energy economics, investment and strategy.
“The event comes in a time where negative news has affected Vestas reputation and Brand equity,” Vestas General Manager in Brazil Miguel Picardo said. “This is exactly the type of initiative that we needed today in order to emphasize Vestas’ commitment to the market.”
The companies highlighted data from the Corporate Renewable Energy Index and the Global Consumer Wind Study in an event this morning at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio, bringing together corporations and other stakeholders to “share best practices and lessons learned.”
The Rio event is just the beginning of a global push, with high-profile events scheduled for London, New York, Frankfurt as well as Mumbai and Sydney over the coming months through the end of 2012.
This is the second year Vestas and Bloomberg have partnered to create the data sets that lie behind the rankings of renewable energy use by companies highlighted in the CREX and the perception rankings of renewable energy by consumers in the GCWS. Breaking Energy has also joined Vestas in a sponsored partnership to provide a venue to discuss and share the results of an unusual effort to drive increased transparency.
“With roughly 150 million people joining the middle class I believe the world will need to start looking at the value of the energy mix beyond just what you pay for it,” Vestas SVP for Global Marketing and Customer Insight Morten Albaek told Breaking Energy recently. “Corporate leaders and decision makers are obsessed with getting an edge in the BRIC countries, and customers there are the ones that view most favorably and most prefer brands based on renewable energy.”
The B in BRIC, of course, stands for Brazil.
“Although faced with increasing energy demand and growing CO2 emissions Brazilian companies deserve a lot of credit for being at the forefront when it comes to investing in wind and renewable energy,” Albaek, who was present at the Vestas data release event, said. “But the same goes for the Brazilian consumers as they show the strongest support for renewable energy and wind on a global scale.”
To find out more about the different global Energy Transparency 2012 events, visit energytransparency.com.
This piece appears on Breaking Energy as part of the Energy Transparency series in partnership with Vestas.
