Let’s get ethical: Abundance’s Bruce Davis on what crowdfunding is offering investors with a conscience March 18, 2015 Are we becoming more ethically aware when making investments? According to recent research conducted for Triodos Bank, more than one in 10 Brits say that they plan to remove any investments they hold involving fossil fuels over the next 12 months. And among 18 to 34-year olds, the proportion rises to 40 per cent. But [...]
Saudi Arabia won’t cut production – because it knows the oil age is ending March 12, 2015 There have been many explanations, including on these pages, for why Saudi Arabia has not cut production to shore up the price of oil. These range from the use of the oil price as a foreign policy weapon – whether to wage economic war against rivals Iran, or to help their US allies bring Russia [...]
Solar Impulse-2: This is why solar planes would be so much better than traditional planes March 9, 2015 A completely solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi this morning, and will now attempt to fly around the world using nothing but the sun's rays. Called Solar Impulse-2, it will first head to Muscat in Oman, and from there will spend five months travelling across Asia, the US and southern Europe. It won't [...]
The government plans to build a series of tidal lagoon power plants in the UK – here’s everything you need to know March 2, 2015 The government is considering building the world's first tidal lagoon power plants in the UK. There would be six of them – four in Wales and two in England, and the energy generated would be used to power as many as eight per cent of the UK's homes. The company behind the idea is [...]
Election doubt puts renewable firms off the UK March 1, 2015 THE UK’s status as a top destination for renewable energy investors is under threat, according to a new study released today by Ernst and Young. The decline is largely due to a lack of clarity from politicians as to where renewables fit into the country’s energy mix. EY says that the upcoming election in May [...]
Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project attacked by Citizens Advice charity over pricing February 22, 2015 Consumer charity Citizens Advice has slammed the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon as being “appalling value for money” and said the process of negotiations around the project’s contracts was “inherently opaque”. The group made the statements in its response to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) consultation on construction of the lagoon, which [...]
Infinis Energy blames flat third quarter results on oil market weakness February 16, 2015 Landfill gas business Infinis Energy reported revenue of £129.9m for the nine months ended 31 December 2014, compared with £125.7m in the same period of 2013, following a mixed performance which the firm partly attributed to weakness in the oil market. The company stated that its landfill gas operations had continued to perform ahead of [...]
M&G Investments injects £60m into UK solar power company Primrose January 7, 2015 Five solar farms across the UK have gained new funding, with M&G Investments agreeing to provide £60m to Primrose Solar. The inflation-linked financing, arranged by Novatio Capital, is repayable over 18.5 years and is provided by clients of Prudential-owned M&G seeking long-term secure cash flows. Tim Huband, the head of project and infrastructure finance at [...]
Macquarie Capital buys into Baltic Sea offshore wind farm January 7, 2015 Macquarie Capital yesterday bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm in Germany for approximately €720m (£477m), the firm announced. The investment, advisory and capital markets arm of Australian financial services conglomerate Macquarie Group has partnered with Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) – one of Europe’s largest energy supply companies – to [...]
2015 resolutions: Ten pledges to put Britain back on a sustainable footing January 4, 2015 It's that time of the year when, having over-indulged over the holiday period, we promise to do better over the next 12 months. Our political leaders have over-indulged for a good deal longer than just a few days, and we can see the cost in the state of the public finances and falling standards [...]