Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
Remember my post on how a trillion had been invested in cleantech ? Well, the trend is accelerating as $260 billion (approx. 200 billion euros) were invested in 2011 alone as Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported.
So, everything wasn’t so bad last year and especially not for the United States, which reclaimed their leadership from China in this sector. This was a first since 2008. What would happen if the US Governement was backing cleantech ?
America invested $56 billion and China $47 billion. Global investments in solar grew by 36 percent to reach $137 billion in 2011. Continue »
The situation is critical in the People’s Republic of China as everyday it is becoming more and more evident than business-as-usual scenario would doom the country, and the world.
As the air pollution in Beijing is reaching truly horrifing levels the local government has called to ” reduce emissions of “major pollutants” by as much as 10 per cent by 2015 “ according to The Telegraph.
To do so, the country will need no less than ” $536 billion (410 billion euros) of investments for environmental protection in the five years through 2015 “ as Bloomberg reports. Continue »
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a trillion dollars – that’s a thousand billion, or 748 billion euros – has been invested in renewable energies, energy efficiency and smart energy technologies since 2004.
As stated in the article : ” Annual clean energy investment has risen nearly five-fold, from $52bn (39 billion euros) in 2004 to $243bn (181 billion euros) last year, a compound annual growth rate of 29%. “
Bloomberg believes that world leaders in Durban should focus on how to keep this momentum rather than trying to find a deal on emissions. I blogged recently on how we could do just that…
These are great news, just in time for the current climate talks taking place in Durban as to a new report from Bloomberg, global investments in renewables are surpassing for the first time ever the amounts invested in fossil fuels.
With economies of scale and scope, both solar energy and wind power are getting cheaper and cheaper, making them already seriously compete with much dirtier energy sources.
As a result, last year over $187 billion (141 billion euros) were invested in renewables and only $157 billion (118 billion euros) in fossil fuels. This is only the beginning. Continue »
According to Reuters : ” China will invest 2 trillion yuan (about $313 billion or 230 billion euros) to promote a green, low-carbon economy in the next five years, a senior economic planning official was quoted on Sunday as saying. ”
The article goes on : ” (…) The green economy plan includes setting up 100 bases for demonstrating resource utilisation and launching low-carbon pilot programmes in five provinces and eight cities “
I guess all this money will help China become the first economic power even quicker thanks to cleantech. Meanwhile both the United States and the European Union are doing a track-stand on these issues…
If you think the economic downturn is plaguing every sector, think again. To the UNEP : total global investments in clean energy grew by 32 percent in 2010 to $211 billion (146 billion euros). However, there is a catch :
To Grist : ” For the first time ever, developing countries lead yearly investment in clean energy — representing about $72 billion (50 billion euros) in spending in 2010, versus $70 billion in rich countries.
“China, with U.S. $48.9 billion in financial new investment in renewables (up 28%), was the world leader in 2010.” I am just wondering when the European Union as a whole will have some leadership… Continue »
To Common Dreams : ” Humanity is near to breaching the sustainability of Earth, and needs a technological revolution greater and faster than the industrial revolution to avoid “a major planetary catastrophe,” warns a new United Nations report.
“The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation,” published today by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs calls for investments of at least $1.9 trillion per year to avert this catastrophe.
I don’t know about you but I have lost count of how many times the United Nations called for action and how nations around the world ignored those calls… Continue »
At first I couldn’t possibly believe it, it had to be a sinister joke : there would be a million solar homes in Bangladesh… I was wondering : How could such a poor country such as Bangladesh could afford to have a million houses with solar panels ?
Indeed, the country has a GDP per capita of $638 (when the USA has $47,000) and a HDI of 0.543 (the world’s highest score is Norway, with 0.98). 40 percent of Bangladeshis live below the poverty line…
So, how did the inhabitants got so many solar houses ? Yale Environment 360 (often republished by Cleantechies) bring us the details behind this impressive success. Continue »
To Cleantechies : ” A new UN report warns that humans could triple the natural resources they consume by 2050 unless economic growth is “decoupled” from current consumption rates.”
” In developed nations, individuals consume an average of 16 tons per capita of minerals, ores, fossil fuels, and biomass each year, and as much as 40 or more tons per capita in some nations.”
” (…) The panel also suggests more investment in technological, financial, and social innovation to at least freeze per capita consumption. ” For more details, please check out the official webpage.
According to Cleantechnica : ” India plans to invest $37 billion (26 billion euros) to create 17,000 MW of renewable energy generation by 2017, the ministry for new & renewable energy has said. ”
” The present installed renewable energy capacity in India is 20,000 MW which accounts for 11% of the total installed power capacity. The major share ofpower still comes from coal which accounts for 40% of the country’s energy usage. “
The country is currently the third largest energy consumer, behind China and the United States. However, its per capita consumption is well below Western standards. Continue »
