Category: News

November 16 2017

The Bond That Really Asks You To Bet on the Future of The Planet

Orsted A/S, the Danish company built on oil and gas extraction, will issue its first green bonds as it moves toward completing a transition to renewable energy. Orsted, which sold its oil division earlier this year, plans to offer a hybrid note due in 3017 (it’s a 1,000-year bond) and a senior unsecured bond maturing in […]

November 16 2017

China Could Teach India How to Clean Its Toxic Air

As New Delhi suffers through a surge in the most harmful type of smog — a toxic stew that makes India’s capital one of the most polluted in the world — Beijing offers lessons in how another troubled city made progress clearing the air. China, which for more than a decade has been the world’s […]

November 15 2017

Buffett-Backed BYD to Open Electric-Truck Plant in Canada

BYD Co., the Chinese electric-vehicle maker backed by Warren Buffett, plans to open its first assembly plant in Canada, anticipating a surge in demand for electric trucks from municipalities and businesses. BYD, often described as China’s Tesla, will open the plant next year in Ontario and hire about 40 people to start, BYD Canada spokesman Ted […]

November 15 2017

A Tiny Island Prepares the World for a Climate Refugee Crisis

As rising sea levels threaten to leave millions homeless, a South Pacific island paradise is upstaging wealthier nations in forging a response to the unfolding crisis. Most countries lack policies and laws to effectively respond to those displaced in low-lying coastal communities from Florida to Bangladesh, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Fiji, an archipelago […]

November 14 2017

MAN’s $583,000 Electric Urban Bus to Test Cities’ Spending Plans

Volkswagen AG’s MAN commercial-vehicle division expects its electric city buses, on sale as of 2019, to cost about 2.5 times more than conventionally powered ones, with the difference easing only in the following few years. MAN SE Chief Executive Officer Joachim Drees’s estimate for the models, giving a price tag of around 500,000 euros ($583,000) […]

November 14 2017

China Will Consider Resumption of New Electric Car Permits

China’s government is considering a resumption of new permits to make electric vehicles as early as the first half of 2018, a move that would clear the way for Ford Motor Co. and Tesla Inc. as well as a string of local manufacturers to start production, people with knowledge of the matter said. The National Development […]

November 14 2017

Cheap Battery Forecasts Kill India’s 25-Year Coal Power Deals

India’s power distributors are balking at traditional 25-year thermal-power purchase contracts, avoiding lengthy entanglements so they can benefit as costs for batteries and renewable energy slide. Now in vogue: agreements that last 10 years or even less. “In the next five to 10 years battery storage may be coming in a big way,” Deepak Amitabh, chairman […]

November 13 2017

West Africa’s Off-Grid Solar Market Boom Drives Lumos Expansion

Written by Olivier Monnier. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Markets.  West Africa’s booming off-grid solar industry is drawing international investors eyeing expansion. Lumos Global, a Dutch off-grid developer that raised $90 million last year to start business in Nigeria, said its expanding in Ivory Coast this month. In both countries, Amsterdam-based Lumos is using […]

November 13 2017

Here’s What Europe’s Carbon-Market Overhaul Means for Businesses

Written by Ewa Krukowska. This article first appeared in Bloomberg News. Europe is stepping up its efforts to cut pollution, and companies across the continent are facing a growing bill unless they go cleaner. European Union policy makers reached a provisional deal last week to overhaul the bloc’s Emissions Trading System, the world’s biggest carbon […]

November 13 2017

Saudis, Coal, Defying Trump: Five Things to Watch at Bonn Climate Talks

Written by Jess Shankleman. This article first appeared in Bloomberg News. Envoys from almost 200 countries are entering the final stretch of two weeks of talks aimed at defending and bolstering the global Paris Agreement on climate change. Delegates meeting in Bonn are seeking to strengthen the landmark 2015 accord, which is already under threat […]