October 15th, 2010

(This piece by Andrew Winston, green business consultant and author of Green Recovery and
Green to Gold (with Daniel Esty) first appeared as part of a series on the smart grid at Harvard Business Online.)

Creating a clean economy will not be easy. It will require sustained, consistent, and large-scale investment across many sectors, including transportation, building systems and appliances, energy generation, and of course the electric grid itself. We will need new, more intelligent software and hardware to manage the new demands on the grid.

We’ll need a smarter grid, one that will both communicate in real time with customers’ devices to help manage peak demand and manage the inflows of renewable energy and plugged-in electric cars. But this is not a single pursuit; it’s the connective tissue in a network of new technologies and energy systems. These are multi-trillion-dollar markets, so the opportunities for the countries and companies that lead the charge will be vast. And some governments, especially in China and Germany, are taking this challenge much more seriously than others.

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March 5th, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

As climate change accelerates, leading investment groups are asking to hear more from corporations about their plans to adapt and survive in a changing world.

U.S. investors – pension funds, labor, religious and other institutional investors – filed a record number of climate change resolutions in 2009.

The 95 shareholder resolutions were filed with 82 U.S. and Canadian companies, some of which face special challenges from climate change, according to a news release by Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental and social responsibility groups.

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February 11th, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

Critics of sustainable living initiatives often pin their arguments on the possibility of dubious return on investment. But a recent survey of American investors indicates that many now believe going green can be good for the economy – and their own pocketbooks — as well.

The survey, the results of which were released this week by Allianz Global Investors, said 73 percent of all investors who responded think policies to promote “green” practices and technologies will have a positive impact on economic growth. Fifty-seven percent believe “green” jobs can help turn around the U.S. economy.

“It’s clear to me that government investment in the environment will be an important engine for economic renewal in the United States,” said Bozena Jankowska, head of the RCM Sustainability Research Team and lead portfolio manager of the Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends^SM Fund.

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October 9th, 2009

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Before the recession put a stranglehold on most every investment, clean technology was hot. Nearly 80 percent of all the venture capital spent in 2008 went to clean, green investments. The industries slumped for much of 2009, but now investors are returning to clean industries.

Regular Americans are curious about these clean tech companies, too, and they’re asking their financial advisers about them, according to one survey.

What is clean tech? It refers to technologies made without generating significant pollution, which produce products that can replace non-renewable energy sources, like oil, and make us more energy-efficient. Think solar cells and wind-generated power, hybrid or electric cars, green buildings, desalinated water and a “smart grid” that will help businesses and home owners to connect with new sources of power, like wind farms and giant desert photovoltaic installation

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