Unleashing the Power of Innovation, Sustainability and Stewardship
Welcome to an exciting new GreenMoney issue featuring five perspectives on the World of Energy Today and Tomorrow:
• Carol Laible of Domini Social Investments talks about the implications of Climate Change and Divesting from Fossil Fuels
• Garvin Jabusch of Green Alpha Advisors looks at the Structural (and Possibly Abrupt) Decline of Fossil Fuels
• Nancy Pfund of DBL Partners tells about the Future of Energy in the Developing World
• Doug Arent of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis believes, after the Paris Agreement, the Smart Bet is on a Clean Energy Future
• Clint Wilder of Clean Edge reports on the States that are Leading the Transition to a Clean Energy Economy
You will also find many additional articles on our website full of innovative solutions to meet the global challenges we face.
Energy: Change or Be Changed by Carol Laible, Domini Social Investments
Human nature often resists change. We struggle with moving from familiar surroundings to new, unknown territories. Yet, when it comes to the greatest single challenge we face today, our resistance to change will surely cause massive and unforeseeable changes. Climate change is upon us. We know with certainty that our behavior is impacting the planet we inhabit. The last time atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide were this high was millions of years ago, long before Homo sapiens appeared. This places us in an entirely new era of risk, for which we have no precedent or reliable benchmark. The increasing reality of climate change attributable to the burning of fossil fuels and the speed of changes to our planet has been well documented. What will we do with this vital information – change or be changed?READ FULL ARTICLE
The Structural (and possibly abrupt) Decline of Fossil Fuels by Garvin Jabusch, Green Alpha Advisors
It has been a tough couple years for fossil fuels companies. In the immediate term, new drilling techniques and the lifting of the Iran economic embargo have opened up new supplies of oil and gas, and subsequently there has been a downward trend in the price of oil over the last several years. We believe that fossil fuels are in the early stages (perhaps not so early in the case of coal) of a structural decline in demand that will ultimately result in coal, oil and gas no longer representing a meaningful percentage of the global economy’s energy mix by 2050, with investment and growth in the sector reversing long before that. With utilities, transportation and the corporate world making the transition to renewable energy, I don’t see an increase in the demand for fossil fuels.READ FULL ARTICLE
The Future of Energy:It’s the Developing World’s Turn to Shine by Nancy Pfund, DBL Partners
By 2050, the world will consume 61 percent more energy than it does today. This should be good news, for, as access to reliable, affordable energy increases, so does the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. Energy keeps schools and businesses running, computers working, cities shining, and cars moving. Without the availability of energy, the global poverty rate could not have dropped by more than half since 1990, allowing the opportunity to improve lives across a wide sphere. And yet, in a skewed parallel, 1.3 billion people lack access to the most basic energy services and the economic, environmental and health benefits they provide. So how can we ensure that the most threatening climate change consequences are avoided, but also ensure equitable access to energy? The answer is renewable energy. READ FULL ARTICLE
After Paris, the Smart Bet is on a Clean Energy Future by Doug Arent, Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
Power systems and the investment landscape are changing. Both at home and around the world, the ways that we produce and consume electricity is evolving. The many drivers of this transformation include public policy, consumer trends and demands, business models, and technological innovation. The ultimate outcome of the changes remains to be seen, but a clear direction is apparent. A clean energy future is here and poised for rapid growth. Clean energy attracted a record $329 billion in global investment in 2015 despite low oil and gas prices. That record was due to investment all over the world – the US, China, Africa, Latin America, India, and elsewhere. Renewable energy technologies are the major growth story coming out of Paris, making prudent investments in the clean energy space a seemingly smart bet.
States that are Leading the Transition to a Clean Energy Economy by Clint Wilder, Clean Edge
Clean Edge annually benchmarks all 50 states and the 50 largest U.S. metro areas on dozens of metrics covering Clean Energy, Clean Transportation Deployment, Policy Leadership, Financial Investments in the Clean Tech Sector, and relevant Human and Intellectual Capital. In the 2016 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index, California retained its seven-year hold on the #1 ranking in the Technology category, while near the top with Massachusetts in the other two categories: Policy and Capital. The solar power capital of the U.S. in both industry presence and deployment, California generated more than 15,000 utility-scale GWh (Gigawatt hours) and more than 5,000 distributed GWh of power from the sun in 2015, both the most in the nation by far. Overall more than 60 percent of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity additions last year came from solar and wind.READ FULL ARTICLE
For a New Look at CSR, check out GreenMoney’s special All-Videos issue from May 2016.
Cliff Feigenbaum,
founder & publisher
EMAIL CLIFF
