Cleantech, Renewables & Sustainability Investment - Deal Flow

It’s encouraging to see creative ideas around fund raising for Cleantech, renewable & low carbon technologies – The Founders Club for example “where dealmakers club together” ... looks good, Par Equity - is this the largest Advisory board gathering of the great and good? There’s even talk of some novel and interesting off-grid (pardon the pun) boutique social stock exchanges emerging too.

But they all want the same thing - post revenue / growth potential businesses to invest in - so supply & demand will be a problem for the smaller players wanting quick returns.
This week also saw a Government announcement about the establishment of a Green Investment Bank operating on a commercial basis and involving both public and private sector capital. £1 billion will be raised from the sale of “mature government-owned infrastructure-related assets” (will we have anything left soon – even Dover Docks appears to be up for sale?). This would be matched by £1 billion of private sector investment ... I haven’t seen the detail yet but I’m sure the latter will be a challenge given the state of Corporate businesses today – and again its targeted on investment into heavyweight large complex infrastructure projects.
So – who’s tackling investment into the start up and innovation side of emerging green technologies?

There’s an ever increasing funding gap between early stage “fresh out of the shed entrepreneurs” and “high growth” ready businesses.

Ultimately this will impact deal flow at maturing business “high growth” stage. Inevitably this will get tighter and more and more investors will be chasing fewer deals... that will be interesting as the tables may turn a little perhaps.

By Debby Lloyd
Managing Director, EcoSearch

Understanding What the 10:10 Project is and What You Have to Do to Be Part of It

10:10 is a project to rally every sector of British society behind a very simple idea – to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 10% before the end of 2010.

The philosophy behind this is for the UK to demonstrate to the policy setters that we are ready, able and willing to reduce our GHG emissions and happy not to wait for policy to be imposed on us as that would likely be a long time coming. Franny Armstrong, one of the idea developers, explains this really well on the Guardian’s 10:10 site.

EcoSearch as a business and myself as an individual have committed to reducing our emissions, so understanding what it is and what we need to do is important. Thankfully the first 10% reduction is the easy step.

A couple of thoughts on how to start:

1. Energy in the home / office – replace all light bulbs with energy efficiency light bulbs, turn off radiators in halls and unused spaces, lower the thermostat by one degree, insulate your walls and lofts. There are grants available for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation, so take advantage of them!
2. Buy quality products – quality products last longer meaning they need replacing less. Less replacement translates to less manufacturing and less emissions.
3. Eat better – local food that is in season has the smallest carbon footprint. Reduce your impact buy buying locally and from independent businesses. You will feel better for it too!

There are plenty of simple actions you can take to begin the process – that’s exactly what 10:10 is all about. Think about your own lifestyle and business – if you travel a lot, how can you minimise it? If you have an inefficient property – what can you do to improve it?

Specific targeting of the big emission sources in your micro-environment is easy to do and what this project is about.

So get to the 10:10 site, commit to the cause and let’s show the policy setters we are ready!
http://www.1010.uk.org

By Steven Rogers
Sector Lead for Carbon and Renewable Energy Engineering

UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

On Wednesday the Government announced its Low Carbon Transition Plan.

The plan covers everything from;

• The power sector
• Homes and communities
• Workplaces and jobs
• The transport system
• Farms and managing land
• Waste sustainability

So, here’s a round-up of all you need to know:

From the Government:

• DECC - Wednesday’s press release from DECC
• Carbon trust - Proof will be in the delivery of Low Carbon Strategy
• Energy Saving Trust – have not issued a press release
• Department for work & pensions – have not issued a press release
• Department for Transport – A greener future for transport
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – have not issued a press release

From the power utilities:

• Ofgem - Response to the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan
• British Gas/Centrica – have not issued a press release
• EDF – have not issued a press release
• E.On UK - It's now or never if we're to win the fight against climate change
• RWE npower - RWE npower welcomes Government plans to meet emissions targets
• Scottish Power - ScottishPower welcomes the UK Government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan
• Scottish & Southern Electricity – have not issued a press release

From the Press:

• The BBC - Low carbon way 'to reshape lives' and from BBC Parliment on iPlayer

The Broadsheets:

• The Times – Lots of articles including those on Jobs, higher energy bills and transport
• The Guardian – Green energy revolution and Government unveils sweeping plans to transform UK into low-carbon economy
• The Telegraph - Society must change to tackle global warming, says Ed Miliband

The Green Press:

• BusinessGreen - Reaction and a comprehensive round-up
• New Energy Focus - Renewable Energy Strategy published
• Recharge - UK Government unveils Renewable Energy Strategy

You may also find my list of 15 renewable energy news sources interesting.

If I have missed anything, don't hesitate to let me know.

By Katharine Robinson

Research Associate, EcoSearch

Ed Miliband Talks Climate Change

This morning Ed Miliband took part in a web chat about climate change in advance of the launch of the “Road to Copenhagen” initiative today, which begins the run up to the climate negotiations in December.

Mr Miliband sings from the policy hymn sheet while managing to keep the chat human. He tells us he has a Prius and admits that he hasn’t quite finished reading David MacKay’s book ‘Sustainable Energy - without the hot air’. He talked about the UK being the only country to have a specific commitment on aviation: “that aviation growth will be constrained by a commitment to get aviation emissions back to current levels by 2050”, and acknowledge that we are in need of a 2050 Energy Roadmap: “That's part of what our summer white paper will be doing so watch this space. And we must make the transition from fossil fuels.” He also advised readers about the £100bn financing plan announced by Gordon Brown today (go to the DECC website for more info), and referred people to the manifesto for Global Climate Change.

Mr Miliband was even willing to answer an off-topic enquiry about his feeling regarding the passing of Michael Jackson.

You can see everything that was discussed in the web chat, from carbon capture and storage, carbon offsetting nuclear power and energy efficiency here on the Guardian website.