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Posts from the ‘Reports’ Category

May 14

Winners and Losers in the Renewable Energy Race

According to a recent Pew Charitable Trust report entitled, “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race,” the United States overtook China in green energy investments during 2011 after lagging behind for the previous two years.

When you add up asset finance, public markets, venture capital, and small distributed investments together, we spent $48.1 billion compared to China’s $45.5 billion.

Part of this growth stems from a number of expiring U.S. incentives. Essentially, developers, manufacturers, and investors in the States rushed to fund pipelined projects in order to take advantage of renewable energy tax breaks and rebates that were about to be shelved.

In other words, green energy bragging rights for 2012 and beyond could very well go back to China now that this last-minute rush is over.

via Winners and Losers in the Renewable Energy Race | US Solar Institute.

May 14

The VC industry is broken. So now what?

The investment team at the Kauffman Foundation believes the venture capital industry is broken and they — or rather investors in VC funds — are partially to blame. The report condemns venture firms for being too big, not delivering returns, and not adjusting to the times. But then it blames the situation on a misalignment of incentives: Namely, limited partners that invest in venture firms have done so in a way that encouraged VCs to raise huge funds at a time when huge funds weren’t really warranted. And now, for the Kauffman Foundation at least, the chickens have come home to roost. From the report:

“The most significant misalignment occurs because LPs don’t pay VCs to do what they say they will — generate returns that exceed the public market. Instead, VCs typically are paid a 2 percent management fee on committed capital and a 20 percent profit-sharing structure (known as “2 and 20”). This pays VCs more for raising bigger funds, and in many cases allows them to lock in high levels of fee-based personal income even when the general partner fails to return investor capital.”

via The VC industry is broken. So now what? — Tech News and Analysis.

May 1

Is the End of Suburban Sprawl Finally In Sight?

For decades, sustainability pundits have been predicting that high gas prices would put an end to suburban sprawl and drive people back into the centers of cities. Chapter 12 of Chris Steiner’s book $20 per Gallon documents the argument quite nicely, for example. And for decades, of course, the fastest growing counties in the country have been those surrounding the country’s major cities, which in turn have been either stagnant in population terms or, in the case of the old manufacturing cities of the east and Midwest, declining.

A couple of recent reports, however, suggest the sustainability geeks just might have a point. First, new research conducted separately by the U of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute and the CoPirg Foundation shows that there has been a significant decrease in the number of miles driven by Americans since 2004, about 6 percent in fact, most particularly on the part of the younger generation aged 16 to 34. And then there’s this report from the most recent US census showing that, in the past few years – and for the first time in decades – central cities in the US are growing in population terms faster than the surrounding suburbs.

via Is the End of Suburban Sprawl Finally In Sight? · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader.

May 1

A Grim Portrait of Palm Oil Emissions

Indonesia ranks right behind the United States and China in the lineup of the world’s top 10 greenhouse gas emitters. It’s not because of smokestacks or freeways, but massive deforestation starting in the 1990s — driven In large part by the expansion of plantations for palm oil, an edible vegetable oil used in cookies, crackers, soap and European diesel fuel.

In January, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed finding that biofuels derived from palm oil feedstocks failed to meet the standards set by the agency’s 2007 renewable fuels mandate. While they were found to have lower life-cycle emissions than conventional gasoline and diesel, palm oil came up short of the 20 percent reduction in related emissions that is required for inclusion in the new biofuel blends.

A public comment period on the finding ended last week after being extended by two months to accommodate the deluge of feedback. Many of the comments submitted came from the palm oil industry, which asserts that the E.P.A.’s estimates of palm oil-related emissions are seriously exaggerated.

Yet there is growing evidence that, if anything, the E.P.A.’s life-cycle emissions calculations for palm oil. were too conservative.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used socioeconomic surveys, high-resolution satellite imagery and carbon mapping to plot past and future patterns of land conversion for a representative region in Indonesia, the Ketapang district of West Kalimantan Province in Borneo.

via A Grim Portrait of Palm Oil Emissions – NYTimes.com.

Apr 29

Buttonwood: Feeling peaky

AS THE developed-world economy tries to gain momentum, it faces a persistent headwind. The oil price remains stubbornly over $100 a barrel, acting like a tax on Western consumers. Some blame the high price on evil speculators—Barack Obama unveiled plans to increase penalties for market manipulation on April 17th. But there is a simpler explanation: that supply is inadequate to keep up with rising demand.

The concept of peak oil—the idea that global crude production may be at, or close to, its limit—is far from universally accepted. One leading asset manager talked recently of the world being “awash with energy” because of the exploitation of American shale gas. Nevertheless, oil is still the main fuel for cars and trucks. And crude output (as opposed to alternatives such as biofuels and liquids made from gas) has been flat since 2005.

via Buttonwood: Feeling peaky | The Economist.

Apr 25

Utility execs expect grid parity for renewables by 2030 – survey

Renewable energy generation will not need subsidies by 2030, but the sector still faces a host of challenges to its growth over the next decade, according to a global survey of power and utility executives conducted by consultancy PwC.

Onshore wind, biomass and all forms of solar power generation will be competitive without support by 2030, according to more than 80% of the 71 senior power and utility company executives surveyed by PwC. About 69% said offshore wind will be competitive while 66% believe marine energy will not need subsidies by 2030.

“The report tells us that utility managers have embraced renewable energy,” said David Etheridge, San Francisco-based US power and utilities advisory leader for PwC. “There is a real opportunistic view that costs will come down, technology will change and this will be a viable source of generation for years to come.”

But several major barriers to renewable energy growth will remain over the next decade, namely the high capital cost compared to other forms of generation, according to 75% of the executives. The unwillingness of consumers to pay higher costs for renewable energy was cited by 66% of survey participants. Additionally, 62% stressed the cost and difficulty of grid connections as an important or very important barrier, according to the report.

via Environmental Finance | News | Utility execs expect grid parity for renewables by 2030 – survey.

Apr 25

Cost of Food as Catalyst for Change Cannot Be Ignored

In 18th century Paris the first thing the lieutenant of police did every morning upon reaching his desk was to inquire as to the price of a loaf of bread in the bakers’ shops of Paris. The price of the loaf would tell him whether he could expect a quiet day or should prepare for a day of unrest and violence in the streets. By the time the Bastille was stormed on July 14th, 1789, a loaf of bread cost the average laborer an entire month’s wages. From the French Revolution, via the Russian Revolution to our own American Revolution, the cost of food as a catalyst for change cannot be ignored. Indeed, the International Food Policy Research Institute believes the destruction of Russia’s wheat harvest in 2010 and the subsequent food price spikes in Egypt helped to trigger the events now known as the Arab Spring.

In a report published last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The State of Food Insecurity in the World, the overriding conclusion is that international price volatility and high food prices are expected to continue in the years ahead. Comfortably seated on a sofa in front of the TV in the developed world, the term “food insecurity” tends to conjure tragic images of starving children on distant continents. Well, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee while we can still afford it. The compelling report, The Future of Food and Farming: challenges and choices for global sustainability, published in January 2011 by the Foresight group, the research arm of the UK’s Government Office for Science, makes for some fascinating reading. Here are some of the bald facts:

via Cost of Food as Catalyst for Change Cannot Be Ignored · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader.

Apr 25

Climate Goals Require $5 Trillion Investment by 2020

Five trillion dollars of investment is needed worldwide by 2020 in renewable power, energy efficiency and cleaner transportation to contain rising global temperatures, the International Energy Agency said.

After fuel savings of $4 trillion are taken into account, the net investment required by 2020 is about $1 trillion to ensure the temperature gains since industrialization don’t exceed 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), IEA Deputy Executive Director Richard Jones told energy ministers from 23 nations today in London.

While renewable energy is on track to deliver its share of the savings, Jones said industries are falling behind in efforts to build projects employing nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, biofuels, efficiency measures and technology that cuts emissions from coal plants.

“Under current policies, we estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050,” Jones said. “This would likely boost global temperatures at least 6 degrees Celsius. Such an outcome would confront future generations with significant economic, environmental and energy security hardships.”

via Climate Goals Require $5 Trillion Investment by 2020 – Bloomberg.

Apr 21

Study Finds Electric Vehicles Save Money, Cut Emissions: #evworld

BERKELEY, Calif. — No matter where one lives in the United States, electric vehicles (EVs) are a good choice for reducing global warming emissions and saving money on fueling up, according to a new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). While emissions levels associated with the electricity an EV consumes vary widely by region, drivers can expect to reduce emissions compared to average gasoline-powered vehicles.

The UCS report, “State of Charge: Electric Vehicles’ Global Warming Emissions and Fuel Cost Savings Across the United States,” is a first-of-its-kind analysis of the emissions EVs create from charging on an electric grid and how the cost of that charging compares to filling up a gasoline-powered vehicle.

via Study Finds Electric Vehicles Save Money, Cut Emissions: #evworld.

Apr 21

The U.S. Leads in Clean Energy Investments

Last year the United States attracted more private investment in clean energy than any other country, according to a report released today by the Pew Charitable Trusts, “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race?” But the findings suggest this was largely because of tax incentives that either have just expired or will expire soon, so the U.S. might not carry this lead into 2012.

The report is a useful resource that outlines where clean-energy investment is going: which countries, which forms of energy, and what types of investment, whether early-stage funding to startups or large-scale project financing.

via The U.S. Leads in Clean Energy Investments – Technology Review.

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