… attacks of 2001, the economic crisis of 2008 — these sudden shocks neatly represent the three hallmarks of a “ Black Swan event .” They: Took place outside of regular expectations; … A quick scan of sustainability events over this period reveals a series of news stories, beginning with Silent Spring, that have become household names — the crash of the … below-living wage salaries, human rights infringements, consumption of constrained resources) all represent costs to society that are not factored into the price of an operation …
… What is hindering the availability of public capital and financing options for distributed solar? To some in structured finance, it seems like a great fit: solar … to becoming a major game-changer in the path to unleashing distributed solar finance. “Our mission is to bring the solar industry up to a level where capital markets will say ‘Yes’,” said SEFA president Mary Rottman. What is SEFA? SEFA grew out of SAPC, a three-year initiative to increase the availability of capital to the solar industry, funded …
… Originally posted on the Clean Energy Finance Forum Imagine you could design the electricity market in one state from scratch. There are no pre-existing programs to satisfy and no political baggage to consider. Your only guideline is to allow the continued growth of solar power and distributed … by soliciting energy market designs for a hypothetical state. Of the 13 proposals, three were selected by the Innovation Review Panel for further development at a recently …
… coastlines. Even when these projects help communities, there are often consequences for natural systems. The dams interrupt fish runs. Seawalls hold back sediment that starve beaches of sand. This, of course, has not gone unnoticed by the conservation community. But perhaps these thoughts are … that have improved resource management. Think fish ladders. Now, many engineers are goingbeyond that. They do not see nature as something to control, or even something they …
… On a night when most of Connecticut fretted about the bleak, snowy forecast, 15 residents of Avon considered a bright, sunny future. They were gathered in the … campaign running in their town. Solarize, which has unrolled across the state over the last three years, is a community-based program that leverages the power of social interaction to … to see how this relationship works (or doesn’t) in person. On March 4th, I drove the hour up Interstate 91 from New Haven to Avon and slipped into the back row of the library to …
… in-depth report on the electrical vehicle (EV) market suggests that states interested in boosting EV adoption rates should support the purchase of cars before investing in charging stations. With more EVs on the road, the private market will … rather than direct subsidies. “True scale is only possible with wise policies to encourage network development,” according to Jeffrey Schub, executive director of the Coalition …
… and knowledgeable about solar. Solar Ambassadors and trusted town officials then advocated for the program and the installer through word of mouth, local publications, signs around … events including solar workshops, live-installations for the public and community tours of homes that already had solar. As more people signed up, the price fell further. A … organizers and financers who have had so much experience with this program throughout its three-year history. The reactions of the professors managing the study added insight and …
… The process of sowing the seeds of electric vehicle infrastructure – and thereby creating a backbone of charging stations that can support these vehicles – is still in … stations and consumer purchases of EVs. EVs are becoming an increasingly large part of our clean energy economy and are a vital element of sustainable transportation. Because of … resulting limited usage of public chargers. Building up higher station usage is necessary for EV infrastructure to become more financially viable and therefore become widespread. …
… A lot can happen in five years, especially when it comes to growth in sustainable investing. This year’s US SIF conference , held in Chicago from May 5-6, brought … of 2014, approximately $6.57 trillion US-domiciled assets were under management with some form of SRI strategy, up from approximately $3 trillion in 2010. This represents more than … conversations to mature in coming decades. With all the communication tools available at our fingertips, it is sometimes important to sit in a room with peers and remind ourselves …
… Craigslist ad?" And then there's the kind of invisible trust that we don't even recognize. Our trust that the lights will turn on when we flip a switch, or that water will flow from a faucet. When Paul Lussier introduced the panel for CBEY's "Sustainability, Transparency, and Metrics in Business" event on April 22nd, he … according to Becker, that we're living in an "era of skepticism." Worldwide trust in three of four categories (companies, media, and NGOs) fell dramatically from 2014 to 2015, …