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Perspective: Bridging the two fuels in an economy: energy and finance
An energy revolution is under way. Globally, renewables-based electricity capacity has seen more investments than fossil fuels in the past three years. Yet, many remain wary of investing in renewable energy particularly in developing countries, which have large untapped potential for both solar and wind energy. These are generally perceived as challenging markets in which to operate, especially by risk-averse investors. So, why do clean energy investments continue to be viewed as risky, despite evident trends pointing to the contrary?
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Greenlight Planet partners with telecom operators in sub-Saharan Africa
Greenlight Planet, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar service provider, has partnered with telecom operators in Africa to recognise the natural synergy between the telecom and pay-as-you-go solar industries. The initiative is in line with the company’s aim to pursuing a telecom-focused strategy to have a far-reaching impact on more than 600 million unelectrified consumers across the African continent.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Shell and Sumitomo Buy 15 Percent Stake in Minigrid Firm PowerGen
Shell and Sumitomo have taken a minority stake in African minigrid firm PowerGen. The pair will have a combined ownership of 15 percent after leading the most recent funding round alongside six other investors. Shell will get a seat on the board, with Sumitomo taking an observer seat. Financial details of the Series B round were not revealed.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- off-grid energy
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What Nigeria Can Teach the U.S. About a Green New Deal
Tackling a host of huge challenges – from climate change to economic inequality – the Green New Deal has provoked passion and resistance in equal measure. But as Damilola Ogunbiyi at Sustainable Energy for All asks, what if the solution is not to think big, but to think small? Instead of a vast new energy grid, what if the U.S. created efficient, resilient and job-creating decentralized grids – along the lines of what's currently happening in countries like Nigeria?
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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World Bank Sees ‘Transformational’ Offshore Wind Potential in Emerging Markets
A report from World Bank, Going global: expanding offshore wind to emerging markets, finds that the technical potential for offshore wind in Brazil, India, Morocco, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vietnam is absolutely huge.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Unite Behind the Science: When it Comes to Cooking, it’s Time for ‘Clean’ to Mean Something
Nearly 3 billion people still live in homes where someone burns sticks, charcoal or dung to cook, devastating their health, their local environments and the climate. Yet thousands of projects have failed to deliver truly clean cooking to the masses, doing a disservice to customers and damaging the sector's credibility with funders. Eric Reynolds, CEO of the cookstove company Inyenyeri, argues that there's only one way to turn this around: "deliver dramatically improved outcomes, and be able to prove it." He outlines a straightforward way the industry can make that happen.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Tata, Rockefeller Foundation Plan 10,000 India Microgrids
Tata Power Co. Ltd., in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, plans to develop 10,000 microgrids in India to boost access to affordable and reliable electricity to homes and enterprises across the nation’s vast rural areas.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Too Risky for the Crowd? Assessing the Potential of Crowdfunding for Energy Access
Crowdfunding raised $77 million for energy access between 2015 and the end of June 2019 – and the industry is on pace to generate over $200 million in crowdsourced financing by 2020. But despite this growth, Davinia Cogan at Energy 4 Impact points out that crowdfunding remains on the periphery of discussions about energy access finance. With the sector's estimated $33 billion in commercial capital needs, she explores whether – and how – the crowd can be part of the financing mix.
- Tags
- crowdfunding, energy access, SDGs
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