Top Stories
Green Giant--Beijing's crash program for
clean energy.—reliability medium.
"Letter from China" reviews China's efforts over the past decades to
become a leader in clean technology, and its success in many fields.
David Sandalow, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and
International Affairs, told the author, "China’s investment in clean
energy is extraordinary." For America, he added, the implication is
clear: "Unless the U.S. makes investments, we are not competitive in
the clean-tech sector in the years and decades to come." Interviews and
visits to cleantech businesses in China. See
The New Yorker.
3 out of 10 registered CDM projects never
receive CERs.—reliability high.
Researchers at PointCarbon have found that 30% of projects passed by
the UN CDM Board never actually generate any certified tradable
reductions, because although the projects have been approved they fail
final certification. "To date 1,950 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
projects, set to generate more than 1,700 million certified emissions
reductions (CERs), have been approved by the UN’s CDM Executive Board
(EB). However, only 358 million CERs – from little more than 600
projects, which were due to deliver around 1,050 million CERs – have
been issued" "most market participants automatically assume that with
time all registered projects get their first issuance. However,
according to Point Carbon, 3 out of 10 registered projects have never
made it to issuance". See
PointCarbon site. [Maybe this is why
investors can capture 30% of CDM spending: they take significant risks.
See earlier item here.]
PwC predicts low-carbon economy will usher
in new era of corporate alliances.—reliability high.
"International moves to promote energy self-sufficiency and cut carbon
emissions will create a unique opportunity for innovative start-ups to
emerge as key infrastructure players over the next few years, according
to a major report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The consultancy
giant said the transition to a low-carbon economy will spark a period
of historic flux within the business community, characterised by
fast-emerging companies and heightened mergers and acquisition activity
across the clean tech sector." More highlights of report "Cleantech
revolution: Building smart infrastructures". From
Business Green. Access PwC press release and report here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Carbon Capture and Sequestration Could Reach
$221B by 2030: Study.—reliability medium.
Political and other forces "could push the emerging industry to
capture and store carbon emissions from power plants toward global
annual revenues of $128 billion to $221 billion by 2030, according to a
report" from Pike Research. Highlights. See
earth2tech.
Greener Pastures for Commercial Real Estate.—reliability
medium.
Guest Contributor Matthew J. Kotchen says "New research shows that
green-certified buildings command substantially higher rents and
selling prices." "After closely matching buildings and controlling for
important structural and location characteristics, they find that
office space in green-certified buildings rents for a premium of 3% per
square foot. And after adjusting for even higher occupancy rates in
green buildings, the effective rental premium is closer to 6% per
square foot. What is more, comparable results are found in
significantly higher sale prices, from which the green rental premium
is consistent with a capitalization rate of just over 6%." More
highlights of studies. From
Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog.
Khosla Bets on Wind, Joins GE to Back Danotek.—reliability
medium.
"High-profile cleantech investor Vinod Khosla has made his first
publicly announced bet in the wind industry, backing Danotek Motion
Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of advanced electrical
generators for wind turbines. Khosla’s venture firm Khosla Ventures led
the $13.2 million round of funding for the Canton, Mich.-based startup,
and according to the release, this marks the first investment for
Khosla Ventures' new 'late-stage Venture Expansion Fund.' CMEA Capital,
Energy Capital Management and GE Energy Financial Services, the
investment arm of General Electric also joined the round" See
earth2tech.
Fat Spaniel wins $4.6M, points to growth in
home solar generation.—reliability high.
"As renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power start to gain
more momentum, measurement and analysis startup Fat Spaniel may start
to see bigger business . . . and now it’s raised $4.6 million in debt
financing to continue meeting demand, according to a filing with the
SEC." More on the company. See
GreenBeat.
Government and
Regulation
Brazil holds 1,800MW wind power auction.—reliability
high.
"Brazil has held its first energy sale directed exclusively at wind
power. More than 1,800MW of wind energy was contracted [at] $82.8 per
MWh.
The proceeds of the auction will allow for the construction of 71
generation projects across five states in the northeast and south of
the country." The 20-year value of the contracts is $10.9bn. From
NewNet. [Eight
cents per kWh (wholesale) sounds pretty good.]
India offers new subsidies for grid-connected
wind power.—reliability high.
"The government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said
today it is offering new incentives for grid-connected renewable wind
power generation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wind electricity
producers are expected to receive Rs 0.50 ($0.01) per unit of
electricity fed into the grid under the new program. The average wind
power price in India is about Rs 3 per unit." From
Cleantech Group.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2009 HaraBara, Inc.]
