The weekend read: Sustainable finance – reassessing risk, purpose
The global Covid-19 crisis has had a tumultuous impact on the global economy. It has brought investment risk and purpose into sharp focus, while also bolstering sustainable finance. But what does it mean for solar? Felicia Jackson reports from London on the evolving investment landscape, with climate and social impacts becoming more prominent in financial decision making.
US renewable energy surpasses coal for the first time in more than a century
The coal era could be said to be officially over in the United States.
South Korea introduces carbon footprint rules for solar modules
The regulations will come into force on June 15 and will entail panel carbon footprints being calculated according to life cycle assessments of their environmental impacts according to the KS I ISO 14040 Korean standard.
Spain and Italy are European renewables investment hot spots, says CEO, and Mexico really should be too
pv magazine spoke to Mark Jones, chief executive of privately-owned clean energy investment company Susgen about where the newly-launched business is looking to spend the cash pile it has allocated for big, early-stage project pipelines.
Final call for feedback on EU rules for renewables financing
European citizens and stakeholders have until midnight June 3 to comment on a set of draft EU rules for a new financing mechanism that would enable member states to finance renewable energy projects in other member states as a way of reaching their 2030 renewable targets.
France embraces solar with viticulture, arboriculture and market gardening
The French government has selected seven agrivoltaic projects with a total generation capacity of 12 MW in its latest tender for innovative PV technology.
Climate-friendly businesses can secure €500,000 EU investment to get through Covid crisis
A cash fund is offering financial aid to start-ups and SMEs to mitigate the effects of the public health crisis. The grants will convert into a stake in the recipients at a future date.
Software developer claims its platform can unlock a distributed generation world
U.K.-based Power Transition today launched a crowdfunding exercise to raise the £300,000 it says it needs to scale up its blockchain-based, peer-to-peer energy trading platform beyond a 47-home demonstration project.
Solar parks may have better biodiversity impact than intensive monoculture farming
A research project in the Netherlands is seeking to assess the impact of large scale PV projects on soil quality and biodiversity. Principal scientist Wim Sinke, of Dutch research center TNO, says well-designed and operated and maintained solar parks could prove to have better outcomes than monoculture farming.
Renewables can avoid crippling LNG and coal subsidy bill for Bangladesh
U.S. thinktank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says the nation should reorder its power network to harness cheap, modular renewables after existing power station overcapacity was worsened by plunging electricity demand during the Covid-19 shutdown.
