Nov. 23, 2019  (The Sydney Morning Herald) —Australia is ramping up investment in the nascent hydrogen energy industry, with a $370 million fund for new projects gaining support at Friday's meeting of state and federal ministers in Perth.

Hydrogen is touted as a growth industry in the energy sector, largely due its ability to store energy from renewable sources. But opinions differ on whether the technology should be developed exclusively to store renewable energy or for coal-fired generation as well, potentially using carbon capture and storage.

"The government is backing that in through project investment to promote our outstanding potential as a hydrogen supplier to the world," federal Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said.

Nov. 14, 2019  (InvestorIdeas) — This investor news resource covering solar stocks releases a sector snapshot looking at solar company earnings and the anticipated growth in the sector, featuring news from Direct Solar of America, a subsidiary of Singlepoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING).

Other solar stocks included in this earnings snapshot include; Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR), SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) and Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN).

Solar companies are facing the challenges and the opportunities in a market that is witness to growing demands due to climate change, a next generation of residential consumers that are pro- solar, new technology disruption and pricing that, for the first time is competitive to fossil fuels.

According to a recent report by the IEA, 'Global solar PV market set for spectacular growth over next 5 years,'

Nov. 11, 2019  (InvestorIdeas)— SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) today announced plans to separate into two independent, complementary, strategically-aligned and publicly-traded companies – SunPower and Maxeon Solar Technologies (Maxeon Solar). Each company will focus on distinct offerings built on extensive experience across the solar value chain.

• SunPower will continue as the leading North American distributed generation, storage and energy services company.
• Newly-formed Maxeon Solar will be the leading global technology innovator, manufacturer and marketer of premium solar panels.

Concurrent with the transaction, an equity investment of $298 million will be made in Maxeon Solar by long-time partner Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (TZS), a premier global supplier of silicon wafers, to help finance the scale-up of Maxeon® 5 production capacity.

Nov. 5, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— PowerGen Renewable Energy (PowerGen), a company that develops, manages and supports micro-utilities in Africa, announced that it received Series B investment from Shell New Energies, as well as Omidyar Network?, Acumen, Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), EDFI ElectriFI, Sumitomo Corporation, DOB Equity, and Micro-grid Catalytic Capital Partners (MCCP).

The company said the funds will strengthen PowerGen’s position in its core African markets — Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Nigeria — and help it expand into new ones, as the demand for reliable, clean and affordable electricity in Africa continues to grow. PowerGen aims to connect one million more people to reliable electricity over the next five years.

Nov. 4, 2019  (WindPower)—The total enterprise value of the deal amounts to $6.1 billion, including debt, Pattern said. Newswire Reuters reported the value of the transaction to be around $2.63 billion.

Shareholders will receive a cash consideration of $26.75/share, a 14.8% premium on Pattern Energy's 9 August closing share price — prior to rumours of a takeover.

CPPIB will also combine Pattern Energy and its sister company Pattern Development — currently backed by private investment firm Riverstone Holdings — in to "common ownership".

Oct. 30, 2019  (ALJAZEERA)-Once again, Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil revenue is taking a toll on its national budget.

The world's largest crude exporter expects its budget deficit to widen to 187 billion riyals ($49.8b) in 2020 from an expected 131 billion riyals ($35b) this year as lower oil prices hit revenues, said Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan.

Oct. 22, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is stepping up its efforts to support renewables in Greece by supporting Terna Energy with an €18 million (US$20 million) investment in the Greek company’s successful issuance of a seven-year €150 million (US$167 million) green bond.

The funds will finance additional investments in renewable energy projects in Greece. The projects will also contribute to the country’s target of increasing the share of renewable energy to 35% of its total energy consumption by 2030.

The investment is part of the EBRD Greek Corporate Bonds Framework, developed to extend the bank’s support for the local corporate bond market and to strengthen its long-term viability.

Oct. 17, 2019  (Inside Climate News)- In late 2013, ExxonMobil faced increasing pressure from investors to disclose more about the risks the company faced as governments began limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Of the many costs climate change will impose, oil companies face a particularly acute one: the demand for their product will have to shrink.

For years, Exxon had been using something called a proxy cost of carbon to estimate what stricter climate policies might mean for its bottom line. But as pressure from shareholders grew, a problem came sharply into focus: An internal presentation warned top executives that the way the company had been applying this proxy cost was potentially misleading. That's because Exxon didn't have one projected cost of carbon. It had two.

Sept. 9, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)-The global energy supply is turning greener.

Investment in new renewable energy is on course to total $2.6 trillion in the years from 2010 through the end of 2019, according to a study by BloombergNEF for the United Nations Environment Program and Frankfurt School’s UNEP Center published Thursday.

The boom in the capacity to generate electricity from low-carbon sources gives credibility to an effort by world leaders to slash climate-damaging greenhouse gases. Falling costs of wind and solar power plants is making more projects in new markets economically competitive with generation fed by fossil fuels.

Aug. 13, 2019 (InvestorIdeas.com)) -Ireland is expected to attract massive investment as the country is set to add 5.8 gigawatt (GW) of non-hydro renewable power capacity over the next decade to reach a total 9.6GW by 2030 and account for 65% of the country's installed capacity, says GlobalData a leading data and analytics company.

As an investor, you may want to try your luck with this so-called green industry GlobalData's latest report, 'Ireland Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2019 - Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape", reveals that to achieve a 9.6GW non-hydro renewables capacity by 2030 Ireland will massively increase its investment in offshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. During the forecast period, offshore wind capacity is set to increase from 25 megawatt (MW) to 1.9GW at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.8%, and solar PV will rise from 25MW to 1.3GW at a CAGR of 43%. During the same period, power consumption in Ireland will see a minimal increase, reaching 31.4 terawatt hour (TWh) in 2030 from 27.9TWh in 2019 (a marginal 1.1% CAGR).

July 26, 2019 (REUTERS) -The European Investment Bank wants to stop funding new fossil fuel-reliant projects by the end of 2020, a draft of the EU lending arm’s new energy strategy showed on Friday.

The development bank proposed phasing out support to energy projects that were “reliant on fossil fuels: oil and gas production, infrastructure primarily dedicated to natural gas, power generation or heat-based on fossil fuels.”

June 24, 2019 Investor Ideas - Point Roberts, WA and Delta, BC - June 25, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering solar stocks releases a sector snapshot reporting on the continued growth in solar installations in both residential and commercial zones as more businesses and consumers realize the benefits of solar and as it becomes more readily available and affordable for both.

Featured solar stocks include Singlepoint Inc. (OTC: SING) through its subsidiary Direct Solar, Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR), Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR).SolarPower.com recently reported "In the first three months of the year, the U.S. installed 2.7 gigawatts of solar PV, making it the most solar ever installed in the first quarter of a year. With the strong first quarter, Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables forecasts 25% growth in 2019 compared to 2018, and it expects more than 13 GWDC of installations this year, as reported in its new U.S. Solar Market Insight Report."

SolarPower.com recently reported "In the first three months of the year, the U.S. installed 2.7 gigawatts of solar PV, making it the most solar ever installed in the first quarter of a year. With the strong first quarter, Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables forecasts 25% growth in 2019 compared to 2018, and it expects more than 13 GWDC of installations this year, as reported in its new U.S. Solar Market Insight Report."

Apr. 16, 2019  (Bloomberg News)- Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender, said two Vietnamese coal-fired power plants will be the last it finances as it increases funding for renewable projects.

“We won’t do any new coal-fired power generation plants in any countries, except for the power projects that we are already in, or we have committed to,” Chief Executive Officer Samuel Tsien said in an April 15 interview at its Singapore headquarters “We hope that by doing this, we are encouraging the governments to do facilitating, arrangements for the countries to move from coal to renewable.”

NY Times Climate Forward, Apr.12, 2019  -For investors, the risks of climate change are already raging, with intense storms and wildfires leading to property damage and business disruption.

California’s deadly fires last year resulted in losses of tens of billions of dollars — and may have contributed to the January bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric, the electric utility. “The risk of catastrophic fire has increased in California, and the reason is climate change,” said Julie K. Gorte, senior vice president for sustainable investing at Pax World Funds.

Jan. 17, 2019 Geothermal Social Council -Global clean energy investment totaled $332.1 billion in 2018, down 8% on 2017. Last year was the fifth in a row in which investment exceeded the $300 billion mark, according to authoritative figures from research company Bloomberg NEF (BNEF).

Among other renewable energy sectors, investment in biomass and waste-to-energy rose 18% to $6.3 billion, while that in biofuels rallied 47% to $3 billion. Geothermal was up 10% at $1.8 billion, small hydro down 50% at $1.7 billion and marine up 16% at $180 million. Total investment in utility-scale renewable energy projects and small-scale solar systems worldwide was down 13% year-on-year at $256.5 billion, although the gigawatt capacity added increased.

CleanTechnica, Dec. 18, 2018 - Writing in The Guardian this week, Bill McKibben, the tireless climate activist and founder of 350.org, reports this bit of good news — the global movement to convince institutional investors to divest fossil fuel stocks from their portfolios is making extraordinary progress. The latest converts to the divestment movement are major French and Australian pension funds and Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Oil Change International, Sep. 26, 2018 -As the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) releases the latest draft of its energy sector strategy and the European Investment Bank (EIB) prepares to review their energy sector lending criteria later this year, 65 civil society groups from 28 countries released an open letter being sent to top EBRD and EIB officials demanding that they stop financing oil, gas, and coal projects.

Sep. 28, 2018 -The World Bank Group committed $1 billion to finance battery-storage systems in developing and middle-income countries, and expects its participation to attract another $4 billion in backing from investors as well as public and private funds.

The effort also includes a global think tank to study battery technologies and deployment strategies, according to a statement from the One Planet Summit in New York Wednesday. Most existing battery projects are expensive and focused in developed countries.

Sept. 17, 2018 -Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund invested over $1 billion Monday in an American electric car manufacturer just weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier claimed the kingdom would help his own firm go private.

Tesla stock dropped briefly Monday in reaction to the news, the same day that the Saudi fund announced it had taken its first loan, an $11 billion borrowing from global banks as it tries to expand its investments. It wasn't immediately clear if that loan money played a part in the electric-car investment.

Sept. 7 - 2018 — Commonly referred to as the "Detroit of the East", Thailand is one of the world's foremost automobile producers, currently ranked 12th. EV production is one of the Thai auto industry's fastest growing subsectors. According to analysts, the number of electric cars to be produced in Thailand is expected to grow to 1.2 million by 2036.

Thailand's energy policy is helping establish a complete EV ecosystem that includes EV manufacturers, as well as the companies that build the infrastructure to supply power to EV vehicles. Furthermore, the Kingdom offers easy access to China, whose industrial policy is also dedicated to developing a robust domestic market for electric vehicles.

Aug. 27, 2018 -A growing shift in priorities has led to the top oil and gas corporations investing in clean tech in unprecedented numbers over the past few years, to the surprise of literally everyone.

In 2015, the number of venture capital stakes, project investments, and acquisitions by oil majors totaled 21. Just one year later, that number more than doubled, jumping to 44, according to Bloomberg New Life Energy Finance.