Top Stories
"Strong US Solar Industry Growth for First
Half of 2010"—reliability high.
"The Solar Energy Industries Association ... and GTM Research today
released the inaugural U.S. Solar Market Insight™ report with data for
the first half of 2010 showing significant growth in the U.S. solar
industry despite the continuing struggles of the overall economy. In
2010, the U.S. solar electric market, including both photovoltaic (PV)
and concentrating solar power (CSP) installations, could achieve a
major milestone by surpassing one gigawatt of installed capacity in a
year for the first time". The report estimates 2010 installations of
between 944 MW and 1.13 GW, giving year-on-year growth of 114-156% over
2009. See SEIA
site. PDF of the executive summary of the study here.
"Solar M&A on the rise: Latham &
Watkins"—reliability high.
Marcus Herrmann, M&A at law firm Latham & Watkins says private
equity investors can be expected to find good acquisition opportunities
in solar and he expects them to buy soon. "It's very likely that we
will see M&A activity in this segment within the next two years."
Examples of trends and deals. See Reuters.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
"Renewables eyed by big funds: Capital
Dynamics"—reliability high.
Investment management firm Capital Dynamics thinks "Renewable energy
assets across developed economies are starting to attract funds looking
for long-term investments in energy generation" says Reuters. "The
amount of investment globally has quadrupled in the past five to six
years so now we are starting to see it get to a scale where some of the
bigger pension funds can really take it seriously," said managing
director David Scaysbrook at a recent conference. More about global
clean energy investment environment. See Reuters
story.
"Silicon Valley’s Solar Innovators Retool to
Catch Up to China"—reliability high.
Just as California thin-film solar manufacturers "finally begin mass
production — Solyndra just flipped the switch on a $733 million factory
here last month — they are finding that the economics of the industry
have already been transformed, by the Chinese." With government
subsidies Chinese solar panel manufacturers have scaled up and cut
costs dramatically, changing the playing field for more advanced
Silicon Valley technologies. The California firms are struggling to
build volume and reduce their own costs of production. Discusses impact
on VC attitudes toward solar start-ups. More on solar strategies. From The
New York Times.
"ADB: Asia needs $8 billion annual investment
in water"—reliability high.
The Asian Development Bank says Asia needs around $8 billion a year to
improve water security and meet goals of providing drinking water and
sanitation, according to this Reuters article. The ADB "planned to
maintain its current annual investment on water projects of $2-2.4
billion under a proposed 10-year plan", so much of the required
investment will have to come from the private sector, according to a
bank official. Reuters
article. [So
are there $6 billion worth of profitable projects to attract all that
private capital?]
"Carbon Trading System Draws Environmental
Skeptics"—reliability high.
About the problems with the UN's Clean Development Mechanism carbon
trading scheme. "five years after its introduction, and despite several
changes, the mechanism remains open to abuse, according to many
involved in climate change issues. ... If a project does not depend on
carbon credits for its existence, then the notional carbon savings are
bogus. Yet the credits will nonetheless be sold to a polluting industry
which will then pollute more — probably in Europe." Discusses problems
many observers see, and efforts by the UN to refine its system. See The
New York Times.
"London bike hire scheme on road to be only
public transport system in profit"—reliability medium.
London's recently implemented bike hire scheme looks like it will be
able to cover its operating costs within a couple of years, according
to an early financial assessment, and then begin contributing to its
£140m implementation costs, according to this post by Frederika
Whitehead. "Charlie Lloyd from the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) said:
'It is very likely they will make some kind of profit on this, and you
have to bear in mind that London Transport makes a loss on every single
bus and tube journey. So this is a good value transport investment.'"
More at The
Guardian blogs.
"A Climate Proposal Beyond Cap and Trade"—reliability
high.
Given reluctance of U.S. to put a price on carbon, observers suggest
more politically palatable government R&D spending might achieve
the same result. "'We didn’t tax typewriters to get the computer. We
didn’t tax telegraphs to get telephones,' says Michael Shellenberger,
president of the Breakthrough Institute in Oakland, Calif., ... . 'When
you look at the history of technological innovation, you find that
state investment is everywhere.' ... Politically, the weakest link in
the pro-research argument is that no one knows exactly where the money
will come from." Story at The
New York Times.
Government and
Regulation
"CDC Launches Climate-Ready States and Cities
Initiative"—reliability high.
The U.S. federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "has
awarded $5.25 million to ten state and local health departments to meet
the public health challenges of climate change over the next three
years. ... CDC is helping state and city health departments address and
prepare for the health effects related to climate change. CDC
approaches this challenge in the same way it prepares for the
possibilities of bioterrorism and pandemic influenza. CDC scientists
combine public health investigation methods with novel atmospheric
science tools to anticipate how these climate changes affect people and
public health." More at CDC site.
