Archive

  • Banking on the positive

    01 December 2006

    Mark Nicholls reports on how the UK arm of Triodos Bank is making a push into investment banking – and taking a typically unconventional approach

  • A changing climate in Washington?

    01 December 2006

    Environmentalists hailed the Democratic victories in the US mid-term elections. But those hoping for rapid action on greenhouse gases are ­likely to be disappointed, reports Ray Pospisil

  • Schwarzenegger under fire on emissions trading plans

    01 November 2006

    California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order on 17 October proposing that any future greenhouse gas (GHG) 'cap-and-trade' scheme in the state be linked to other US regional schemes and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

  • Evolution Markets raises $15 million

    01 November 2006

    Leading environmental markets broker Evolution Markets has raised $15 million that will, among other things, fund a push into investment banking and biofuels. The money – the first external financing the company has raised – came from Hartford, Connecticut private equity group CCP Equity Partners.

  • $10 billion public–private partnership to reap Texas wind

    01 November 2006

    After overtaking California this year as the leading US state in terms of wind power capacity, Texas looks set to cement that lead by initiating a $10 billion ­public–private partnership to further wind development in the state.

  • EPA particulate matter standards please no one

    01 November 2006

    The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new standards for particulate matter in late September, cutting the daily standards for the smallest particles by nearly half – from 65 micrograms per cubic metre of air to just 35 micrograms in the same volume.

  • DuPont eyes $6bn in revenues from new green push

    01 November 2006

    Chemicals giant DuPont expects to generate $6 billion in additional revenues by 2015 as a consequence of its renewed sustainability commitments, it announced in mid-­October.

  • Wells Fargo tops EPA green power chart

    01 November 2006

    Wells Fargo has become the largest corporate buyer of 'green' electricity in the US, according to rankings released by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week.

  • First offshore wind farm project financing imminent

    01 November 2006

    The first project financing of an offshore wind farm was due to be completed by the end of October, according to bankers involved in the deal. As Environmental Finance went to press in mid-October, Dexia Credit Local, Rabobank and BNP Paribas were close to arranging some €230 million ($290 million) of financing for the 120MW Q7 wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.

  • Eco-securitisation' mulled to protect forests

    01 November 2006

    Forum for the Future is carrying out an R&D programme to examine the prospects for "eco-securitisation" to finance sustainable forestry. The project is designed to test the technical feasibility of using securitisation techniques – widely used to repackage and sell on portfolios of mortgages, car loans and even rock musicians' royalties – to extract value from, and hence protect, the world's forests.