An increasing number of businesses want to be seen as green; go figure. The demand for renewable energy is predominantly driven by mandatory targets such as renewable portfolio standards (RPS) in the US, lucrative feed-in-tariffs (FITs) in Europe, or other requirements such as renewable fuel obligations in the UK. Subsidies such as production tax credits (PTCs) are among… Keep reading →
What do Lockheed Martin, the city of Austin in Texas and Intel have in common? They all invest in renewable energy, alongside major consumers like the Department of Defense and major consumer brand companies like Whole Foods.
The business case for these projects and for ownership of renewable generating capacity is clear, Navigant Consulting Director Andrew Kinross told Breaking Energy in this video, but clear policy has also lent appeal to the sector and prompted creative financing for projects that in turn boosts employment. Financing around projects and structures like third-party ownership of solar energy assets by private equity firms or pension fund investors has been particularly interesting, Kinross says. Keep reading →
Recent evidence suggests companies that score highly on sustainability metrics tend to be well run and have solid business models – 655 institutional investors representing $78 trillion in assets appear to agree.
The 655 investors are signatories to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which is a global greenhouse gas emission reporting initiative that incentives companies, governments and cities to voluntarily disclose data pertaining to key sustainability metrics. Keep reading →
The traffic circle at the intersection of Old Street and City Road in East London’s Shoreditch neighborhood would be just another ugly piece of urban infrastructure if it hadn’t become identified with the city’s booming technology industry.
The circle – or roundabout, as the Brits call the familiar road features – is at the heart of a cluster of high-tech firms ranging from Google and Intel to hundreds of startups that have opened their doors in the last four years, generating a creative cluster that has invited comparisons with California’s Silicon Valley. Keep reading →
A man works on the factory floor at Quadrant, a high end plastic processor on October 19, 2011 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Quadrant, a 70 year old company, employs more than 2000 people in 20 countries and is one of the few remaining manufacturers in the area to still provide stable jobs in an uncertain economy.
Modern manufacturing is not your grandfather’s factory, and the same traditional education and immigration policies are forming barriers to keeping manufacturing in the US. Keep reading →
Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta moderates as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu deliver remarks on the state of energy, February 28, 2012 during the US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC.
We can dream it – so why can’t we make it? Keep reading →
