… financial backing, buy and erect the turbines, and begin generating electricity by 2010. For Walmart de México, becoming the wind farm’s off-taker accomplished a number of important … electricity at below the rates charged by Mexico’s state-controlled utility, shaving costs for the famously thrifty retailer. In addition, the project allowed Walmart de México to get closer to some of its sustainability goals. The wind farm would supply electricity to 348 Walmart de México …
… Harish Hande and the company he founded, SELCO, provide solar electricity for lighting and power to India's poor. For the work of his company, Hande has received numerous recognitions; he is frequently cited as one of the top social entrepreneurs in India and an example for the entire developing world. The road to SELCO’s …
… on Climate Change (GC3), a group charged with creating a comprehensive climate strategy for the State of Connecticut. As of September 2016, Garcia remained undecided about a key … and opponents of nuclear energy on the GC3 and Garcia was weighing each side’s arguments before announcing his own position. Connecticut had a long history of considering climate … 2050. The GC3 had been tasked to develop interim statewide greenhouse gas reduction targets for years between 2020 and 2050 and identify short- and long-term statewide strategies to …
… oil company PEMEX had to find ways to implement this policy. Nevertheless, in spite of efforts by various government agencies as well as PEMEX, by mid-2014 no ethanol had been … makers looked at the country's energy supply, they expected that substituting bioethanol for some portion of gasoline fuel would meet a number of the country’s needs. First, it could help extend the country’s supply of crude oil. The country's demand for gasoline was growing, but the production of crude oil from the country's shallow-water …
… had to decide how it was going to respond and how much it was willing to invest in its efforts to grow in the U.S. In Europe, the supply-constrained market during 2007-10 had … with some of the continent’s leading developers of solar projects. Trina supplied modules for a number of large, signature projects, developing a strong track record. Now, the … Japanese module maker Sharp had bought Recurrent Energies and its pipeline of projects. Before that, the world’s largest module maker, First Solar, had bought a large developer. …
… named Sealed signed a $5-million loan-financing agreement as a way to broaden the market for home energy-efficiency upgrades. In New York State, those upgrades face two key barriers … adoption. The first barrier is that a whole-home upgrade is a high out-of-pocket investment for a homeowner. Homeowners who make upgrades often have to pay cash outright or take out … use energy savings in their underwriting criteria. So the cost per project can be too low for significant resources to be dedicated to vetting each one. Plus, the methods of …
… Ash award in policy innovation, the "Nobel of policy," upon the Connecticut Green Bank for its role in "sparking the green bank movement." The Green Bank used financial … subordinated debt, or warehousing facilities, the Green Bank lowered the cost of capital for consumers and businesses to install energy efficiency upgrades and renewable technology. It supported the banking industry in offering standardized products for consumers, and derisked larger stand-alone transactions. But back in Connecticut, …
… Like many countries, Australia has a large existing building stock that is responsible for a substantial percentage of its greenhouse-gas emissions. Given that it will take decades for these buildings to be replaced, the rigorous standards developed in recent years for new buildings do not address much of the existing carbon emissions. In the face of the …
… Before the federal government discontinued the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Qualified Energy Conservation Bond (QECB) program in 2017 as part of its tax reform package, states like Virginia leveraged this program to accomplish energy efficiency … (GCPs) relative to traditional QECBs and “qualified” projects. GCPs can issue bonds for any mix of public and/or private projects. In contrast, under the traditional …
… with a simple yet powerful energy-efficiency-financing product. To date, the program has performed much better than expected. Average realized savings have been on the order of 50% of … returns. Addressing socioeconomic and skills issues in the area is a high priority for local stakeholders. The program has been successfully resolving the issues related to information technology, skills development, staff availability, and resource access that it …