Finance

Big Banks Await US Carbon-trading while Focusing on Core Energy Plays

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The major investment banks remain heavily engaged in the energy markets, hedging fuel prices and even producing energy for their own or their clients’ benefit. But Brad Hintz, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. research analyst who tracks the investment banking and securities industries, told Breaking Energy that the big banks are also positioning themselves for potential regulatory changes which will force the launch of a national carbon-trading market.

“Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays are all major energy traders,” Hintz observed. “They are the banking giants in that space, and they – along with the commodities exchanges – provide the risk management services needed to balance demand and supply in the global energy markets.” Keep reading →

 /  Published November 1, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Government Subsidies are Scaring Away Capital from Green Deals, Investment Banker Says

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Global investment in sustainable and cleantech businesses has softened during the last couple of years, and there are multiple reasons for the trend. In the US, an investment banker says, one of the key reasons is that government subsidies are scaring away capital. But the banker has detected a growth area that could become a significant driver for clean-tech and sustainability deals.

Most of the major investment banks don’t have stand-alone sustainability practices. But there’s a fair number of middle-market banking firms focused on clean tech and sustainability. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 31, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Has Germany’s Wind Power Sector Escaped the Grim Fate of Solar PV?

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While Germany’s once soaring photovoltaic sector is going through very hard times – a consequence primarily of cheap Chinese imports – the country’s wind energy sector, also a market leader, has so far managed to stay on its feet. But the industry is not booming like it did just a few years ago and is scaling back its expectations for 2012. Experts in Germany say that the German wind industry should expect even tougher competition coming its way soon, possibly from China.

In Germany one of the country’s solar panel manufacturers after another closed their doors over the past year and a half: Battling with China and other new competitors the world-wide industry created a glut and prices went tumbling down in 2009 and 2010. With them went under what had been several of the choicest success stories of Germany’s post-unification economy, many of them in the former eastern Germany which had benefited immensely from the upstart renewables industry. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 29, 2012 at 8:30 AM

ConocoPhillips 3rd-Quarter Profit Fell 31% on Spinoff

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Lower oil and gas prices took their toll, and ConocoPhillips (COP) continued to trim its portfolio of assets in the third quarter, but production results in unconventional U.S. oil formations helped the company come out ahead of analysts’ expectations.

 /  Published October 25, 2012 at 1:35 PM

Smart Grid VC Funding Inches Up (and Reveals Home Energy Trend)

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Quick take: We’ve told you about the slow, gradual uptick in the home energy management market in recent stories about OG&E’s successful smart grid program, why Reliant Energy is piloting in-home displays and why Tendril may be positioned for growth. Now a report from Mercom Capital reveals one trend — an increase in VC investments into smart grid — that also shows another. Peel back the covers to see just what VCs are spending their money on reveals several home security and home automation firms. That’s because — after years of dipping their toes — home security and home automation firms are now adding home energy management to the things they offer to homeowners. (A similar phenomenon is taking place on the commercial side, by the way, where the vendors of building management systems now routinely offer energy management and demand response too.)

And that’s the key, in our view — making home energy part of a mix of offerings. It’s hard to cost-justify a new in-house device just for energy management. But if that device does many other things too — security and home automation, for instance — then the math starts to work. – Jesse Berst Keep reading →

 /  Published October 24, 2012 at 2:45 PM

Big Oil Isn’t as Profitable as Everyone Thinks

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Americans spend a lot of money on oil – about $632 billion a year. A lot of that money goes to paying the costs of getting the dinosaur juice out of the ground in the first place, including exploring for potential reserves, drilling test wells, drilling production wells, pumping the stuff, and transporting it.

 /  Published October 22, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Can Rail Save US Infrastructure? VIDEO

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Can a 150-year-old company be part of the modern economy? Apparently so. Union Pacific (UNP), America’s largest railroad, touches all parts of the economy, even globally — 30% to 40% of its shipments originate or terminate outside the U.S. — and it’s doing better than many younger firms: Its stock recently hit all-time highs. CEO Jack Koraleski, 62, has been working on the railroad his entire career. He’s an evangelist for the industry, especially stressing its eco-friendliness: A train can haul a ton of freight 500 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel, of which he buys over a billion gallons a year. He talked recently with Fortune’s Geoff Colvin about why Union Pacific is really an infotech company, the wisdom of hiring veterans, and much else. Edited excerpts:

 /  Published October 18, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Renewable Energy Regulation and Finance

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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 →

 /  Published October 18, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Betting on Brazil

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Brazil may not be growing the way it once was, but there are still opportunities to be had in Latin America’s largest economy.

After a commodities-driven boom during the past decade, Brazil’s economy slowed substantially last year as global demand for raw materials waned. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 15, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Contributing to a Sustainable Energy Future: Future Cleantech Forum

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Many renewable energy technologies are technically mature and could contribute significantly to a sustainable energy future. And though deployment and investment in renewables remains high, much more could be achieved given the right frameworks and support.

We designed the Future Cleantech Forum for European professionals in the energy and Cleantech area who are interested in developing and implementing strategies for deploying renewable energies. Encompassing the wider scene, we look at the current patterns and trends in energy demand, at strategies to deploy renewable energies and at new emerging technologies across the spectrum. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 12, 2012 at 11:00 AM
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