Green Investment Bank: funding the parts that other banks won’t reach?

The Green Investment Bank has been set up to address green infrastructure “market failures”, but is it not just doing the same as other banks are already doing?

Inspiring, green and innovative: why I came away impressed by RegenSW’s Renewable Energy Marketplace

What do an electric four-wheel vehicle you can peddle, unobtrusive secondary glazing and a bit of brass piping that makes it less expensive to run a combi boiler have in common? They all originate from the southwest and they were all being showcased at RegenSW’s Renewable Energy Marketplace (REM) this week.

Crowdfunding and renewables: is power for the people by the people about to come of age?

16 years ago upon a Cumbrian hilltop, it was proved for the first time in the UK that ‘crowdfunding’ could harness renewable energy. Today, crowdfunding in general is forcing its way into the mainstream. So, will 2013 be hailed as the year when decentralised finance for decentralised energy came of age?

Why we have to turn the anti-renewables press around

Recent research conducted by communications experts CCgroup has found that 50 per cent of newspaper articles portray the renewables industry negatively. So why does this matter and what can the industry do about it?

Will it be rational markets or irrational planning that will shape our energy future?

While we may want to trust in the rationality of markets, current evidence suggests it will be the irrationality of local politics and planning that will ultimately shape our energy infrastructure.

Why investing in renewables can fix our balance of trade deficit

Britain’s balance of payments or trade deficit has officially ballooned to £20.8 billion. Investing in renewable energy offers an opportunity to reverse that trend.

RHI and FiTs: the unintended consequences of penalising green energy ‘early adopters’

The Renewable Heat Incentive and the Feed-in Tariff are Government mechanisms that are meant to incentivise people to generate green energy, but poor regulation means renewable power is going to waste and functioning renewable technologies are being scrapped in order to qualify for subsidies.

UK renewable energy: powering pensions with wind and solar

Over the last few weeks we have seen strong votes of confidence in UK onshore wind and solar from leading institutional investors. But the Coalition is disagreeing on which direction to take. So what will be the energy legacy we leave to the next generation?

Do we need an Energy Policy Committee?

It’s the Monetary Policy Committee that makes decisions about interest rates, printing money and inflation – not politicians. So why, given the dithering in Whitehall over our future energy supply, do we not have an Energy Policy Committee?

Osborne’s £5bn infrastructure plan, but where’s the plan for green growth?

George Osborne announced his new £5 billion National Infrastructure Plan to kick-start the economy this week, but where were the new renewable power plants, energy efficiency projects and waste facilities.