News

• Connecticut mulls subsidies for clean energy

  10 March 2011

  Connecticut will seriously consider feed-in tariffs as a mechanism for propelling clean energy investments in the state, according to the incoming head of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

• Italy scraps solar cap, but incentives in limbo

  10 March 2011

  Italy has dumped plans to limit eligibility for solar incentives and has postponed an announcement on revisions to feed-in tariffs (FITs) until the end of May.

• UK carbon plan is wide in scope but lacks detail – industry, NGOs

  10 March 2011

  Industry and environmental groups have voiced cautious support the UK's draft action plan on climate change but say it lacks detail on how targets will be met.

• Siemens, Carbon Trust offer £550m green loans to UK business

  10 March 2011

  UK businesses can from April apply for funding to install low-carbon equipment from a £550 million ($891 million) pot set up by Siemens Financial Services and government advisory body the Carbon Trust.

• Investors sue Spain for solar PV compensation

  10 March 2011

  Leading renewable energy investors have turned to an obscure international treaty to seek compensation from the Spanish government over retroactive changes to its solar energy tariffs.

• Clean-tech investment mogul Tchenguiz arrested in fraud probe

  10 March 2011

  Vincent Tchenguiz, head of clean-technology investor the Consensus Business Group, has been arrested in the UK as part of a probe in the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing.

• Ex-Citi SRI analyst launches SRI portal

  09 March 2011

  Mike Tyrrell, the former head of socially responsible investment (SRI) equity research at Citi, has set up an online portal designed to "bring about a fundamental shift in the way SRI research is conducted and marketed".

• Budget cuts risk undermining green policy in Northeastern US - NGO

  09 March 2011

  Northeastern US states have many of the policies in place needed to promote clean energy and energy efficiency, but implementation and funding challenges could make it difficult to meet emissions reduction targets, according to NGO Sierra Club.

• Libya makes case for oil, mining risks disclosure - investors

  08 March 2011

  The crisis in Libya and its impact on the energy markets shows the importance of oil, gas and mining companies fully disclosing the political, legal and regulatory risks they face, investors said.

• Investment needed to meet renewables target exaggerated – report

  07 March 2011

  The investment required to meet the UK's 2020 renewable energy targets is likely to be below £40 billion ($65 billion), not the "intimidatingly large" £200 billion often cited, according to a report out today. However, much of that capital is likely to be needed between 2013 and 2015, which "could pose financing challenges".