Article
A Chill Wind - Wall Street Journal 9 March
The wind industry is feeling the chill of the recession, as the struggles of would-be investors make less funding available.
The industry depends heavily on so-called tax equity investors -- companies that provide funding because it earns them a tax credit. For some of those investors, there's no longer any taxable income to offset. The extreme case is the failed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which had been a major investor.
The Journal Report
See the complete ECO:nomics report."There were 14 active [tax equity] investors at the beginning of 2008; now there are four active investors," said Michael Ware, managing director of Good Energies, a private-equity firm that invests in renewable energy and energy efficiency, at the end of last year. "When they're uncertain whether they'll have taxable income, they've pulled out of the market and liquidity dried up."
That's good news for the remaining investors, though, because it gives them more leverage in negotiating the returns on their investments. "Equity returns today have increased by a significant amount," says Adam Umanoff, a partner at Chadbourne & Parke LLC, a law firm involved in renewable-energy deals.
Many of the companies still receiving capital are those with a major parent company, such as San Francisco wind-energy project developer and operator NaturEner USA LLC, whose parent is Spain's Grupo NaturEner SA. The U.S. company recently received $156 million in funding from Morgan Stanley.
Among other wind investments announced this year, Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC secured an undisclosed amount of equity funding from a consortium led by J.P. Morgan Capital Corp. And GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric Co., and GE's private-equity arm together invested $20 million in TPI Composites Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz., which makes blades for wind turbines. The investment will allow TPI to proceed with expansion plans it had put on hold as financing dried up in recent months. One of TPI's customers is GE Energy, General Electric's wind-turbine manufacturing arm.
There is some good news for wind funding. The federal stimulus bill has introduced changes to the tax credit, making it possible to get the equivalent amount of money for renewable-energy projects through grants. But it isn't yet clear what impact the change will have.
The Smart Money
Utilities' efforts to cut costs are fueling the market for so-called demand-response services, which aim to relieve the stress on utility grids by reducing energy consumption, especially at times of peak demand.
"We have seen an uptick in our business," says Tim Healy, chairman and chief executive of EnerNOC Inc., a Boston-based provider of demand-response services.
What Else Is New
Here's a look at other recent deals reported by Clean Technology Insight:
Bright Automotive Inc. -- a company conceived at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency -- raised $11.1 million in a Series A round of funding to help develop its planned 100-mile-per-gallon electric vehicle.Air Products & Chemicals Inc. signed an agreement with Alter NRG Corp. to use Alter's biomass and waste-gasification technologies for biomass and waste-to-energy power plants in Europe and North America.Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. was named by the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority as the preferred vendor to develop a waste-to-energy plant to supply power for municipal buildings.EnerNOC and other companies like it work with utilities and their commercial, industrial and institutional customers to set up systems that automatically reduce power consumption when a grid approaches full capacity. For instance, thermostats in buildings might be automatically adjusted to lessen energy demand.
The company recently signed deals with Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. and Phoenix-based utility Salt River Project to trim power use, and with the city of Boston to cut energy consumption at some of its buildings.
EnerNOC's deal with Xcel was partly the result of pressure on the utility from state regulators to reduce energy demand. "There is without a doubt a regulatory tailwind associated with promoting and instituting more and more demand-side management," says EnerNOC's Mr. Healy.
Other demand-response companies that have been picking up business include Comverge Inc., based in East Hanover, N.J., which recently signed deals with Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. and Pepco Holdings Inc. of Washington, D.C.
Silver Spring Networks, a venture-backed wireless-networking firm in Redwood City, Calif., was awarded a contract by Pepco to provide networking hardware and services related to the "smart" meters that will be installed as part of the utility's agreement with Comverge. The meters provide the utility and its customers with real-time information on power usage and cost, and can be used to control consumption.
Another venture-backed company, eMeter Corp. of San Mateo, Calif., recently contracted with Houston-based utility CenterPoint Energy to provide data-management software and services. That will allow CenterPoint to keep track of the information streaming in from approximately two million smart meters it plans to install starting this year. The utility hopes to use the information to offer consumers differential pricing, to encourage reduced consumption during peak hours.
—Ms. Krieger is a reporter and Ms. Lemos Stein a special writer in Jersey City, N.J., for Clean Technology Insight, a newsletter published by Dow Jones & Co. They can be reached at sari.krieger@dowjones.com and mara.lemos-stein@dowjones.com.
NEWS - Commodites, Agriculture, Green Investment - NEWS
3/09/2009
Librairies, le rayon vert
Par Valérie Hoffmeyer - Le Temps 9 Mars
Les ouvrages traitant d’écologie domestique fleurissent. Leurs nouveaux protagonistes sont les éco-coaches. Moisson
Entre L’art de vivre à Marrakech et Le bricolage de A à Z, une nouvelle espèce de livres domestiques émerge sur les étals des libraires: l’écologie à la maison. Ou la maison dans l’écologie. C’est selon. Sans images d’intérieurs lointains pour faire rêver, ni mode d’emploi pour rendre service, mais avec un expert-coach pour apprendre au lecteur des éco-gestes qui vont sauver la planète, ces ouvrages poussent un peu partout dans les rayons, cherchant leur place entre architecture, nature, jardin et bricolage. Quand ils ne squattent pas à eux tout seuls une tête de gondole dans les supermarchés du livre, preuve de la santé envahissante de cette branche éditoriale qui ne manque ni de gourous ni de disciples. Une nouvelle religion domestique est-elle née?
«Peut-être, oui, admet-on chez Aubanel, éditeur français qui met, depuis peu et comme beaucoup d’autres, une bonne partie de ses œufs dans le panier écolo. En moins d’un an, cette maison, autrefois plutôt versée dans le terroir et le livre illustré, a publié une demi-douzaine de titres à forte coloration verte. Elle ne compte pas s’arrêter là en 2009. Ainsi de son Coaching écolo*, dans la nouvelle collection éponyme: le coach-architecte, le coach-jardinier et le coach-chargé-de-mission-pour-l’environnement y livrent tour à tour une attitude, une prise de conscience touchant à l’ensemble de la sphère domestique, du tri des déchets à la construction de la villa. Aux lecteurs ensuite d’interpréter les préceptes et de se comporter «juste».
«La mode du coach a été lancée par des émissions télé à succès comme D&co sur M6, où la présentatrice est une pro qui relooke les maisons de gens ordinaires. Mais se payer un coach en vrai est très cher: le livre de coaching permet d’offrir les conseils de spécialistes au plus grand nombre. Et cela même dans un domaine aussi complexe et scientifique que l’écologie», précise Sophie Gallet, du service de promotion chez Aubanel.
Démocratiser l’écologie en l’amenant dans la sphère privée, voilà la grande idée de ces publications à tranche verte. Lesquelles, curieusement, ne brillent pas toujours par leur sens pratique. «Il y a une idéologie derrière l’écologie et même dans un livre qui se veut pratique, cela se sent; il n’y a pas de solutions toutes faites dans ce domaine, pas de recettes, mais un comportement à adopter, une responsabilisation des gens», explique-t-elle. Tout en reconnaissant, par-delà la conviction de participer à l’édification d’un monde meilleur, que le vert est un créneau commercial simplement incontournable en ce moment: «La demande est très forte.»
«Il ne se passe pas une semaine sans qu’un livre sur ce thème de l’écologie grand public paraisse, note David Rossi, de la librairie d’architecture Archigraphy à Genève. J’ai un rayon écologie depuis toujours, mais c’était, jusqu’à récemment, un domaine spécialisé, réservé aux professionnels. Puis cette thématique a explosé ces deux derniers semestres, dans la foulée du Grenelle Environnement en France, un peu avant dans les pays anglo-saxons.» Aujourd’hui? Un grand fourre-tout, où le très pointu côtoie le livre de belles images, «d’ailleurs souvent sans aucune utilité pratique, au grand désarroi des clients qui pensaient remplacer l’architecte par un ou deux bouquins».
Mais alors qu’est-ce qui fait vendre? Pas besoin d’allonger ce nouveau lecteur vert sur le divan pour en sonder les moteurs: ils carburent autant à la culpabilité qu’au rêve de la cabane au milieu de rien. Quels parents oseraient en effet passer à côté de Une chambre d’enfant saine et écologique (Ed. Ulmer, janvier 09) ou, encore plus voyou, du très perrenoudien J’attends une maison (Ed. La Pierre verte)? «Celui-ci est parmi les plus complets et aussi les plus dogmatiques, s’amuse David Rossi, qui l’a en rayon depuis des années. Il en est à sa cinquième édition, imprimé sur papier recyclé et cite nommément les entreprises écolo-bio fiables.»
Du pur et dur donc, mais qui n’échappe pas au plus fort des paradoxes de cette littérature, qui continue de prendre la villa individuelle pour modèle absolu de l’habitat écologique. Alors même que tous les scénarios d’urbanisation voient en elle la nouvelle gangrène du territoire et de l’environnement. La villa écolo serait-elle le prix à payer de l’écologie pour tous?
Coaching écolo, Clara Delpas
et Michel Reuss. Ed. Aubanel.
Une chambre d’enfant saine
et écologique, Corrine Bullat.
Ed. Ulmer.
J’attends une maison,
Ed. La Pierre verte.
Home écolo chic, Ed. Fleurus, 09.08.
Petites maisons en pleine nature,
Ed. Links.
Maisons naturelles, Ed. du Toucan.
Des maisons écologique,
Ed. Aubanel.
La maison écologique un choix d’avenir, Ed. Rustica.
Maisons écolo, Ed. du Chêne.
Le b.a.-ba de l’habitat écologique,
Ed. Rustica
L’architecture écologique,
Ed. Le Moniteur (livre pour les professionnels)
Revue Ecologik
Les ouvrages traitant d’écologie domestique fleurissent. Leurs nouveaux protagonistes sont les éco-coaches. Moisson
Entre L’art de vivre à Marrakech et Le bricolage de A à Z, une nouvelle espèce de livres domestiques émerge sur les étals des libraires: l’écologie à la maison. Ou la maison dans l’écologie. C’est selon. Sans images d’intérieurs lointains pour faire rêver, ni mode d’emploi pour rendre service, mais avec un expert-coach pour apprendre au lecteur des éco-gestes qui vont sauver la planète, ces ouvrages poussent un peu partout dans les rayons, cherchant leur place entre architecture, nature, jardin et bricolage. Quand ils ne squattent pas à eux tout seuls une tête de gondole dans les supermarchés du livre, preuve de la santé envahissante de cette branche éditoriale qui ne manque ni de gourous ni de disciples. Une nouvelle religion domestique est-elle née?
«Peut-être, oui, admet-on chez Aubanel, éditeur français qui met, depuis peu et comme beaucoup d’autres, une bonne partie de ses œufs dans le panier écolo. En moins d’un an, cette maison, autrefois plutôt versée dans le terroir et le livre illustré, a publié une demi-douzaine de titres à forte coloration verte. Elle ne compte pas s’arrêter là en 2009. Ainsi de son Coaching écolo*, dans la nouvelle collection éponyme: le coach-architecte, le coach-jardinier et le coach-chargé-de-mission-pour-l’environnement y livrent tour à tour une attitude, une prise de conscience touchant à l’ensemble de la sphère domestique, du tri des déchets à la construction de la villa. Aux lecteurs ensuite d’interpréter les préceptes et de se comporter «juste».
«La mode du coach a été lancée par des émissions télé à succès comme D&co sur M6, où la présentatrice est une pro qui relooke les maisons de gens ordinaires. Mais se payer un coach en vrai est très cher: le livre de coaching permet d’offrir les conseils de spécialistes au plus grand nombre. Et cela même dans un domaine aussi complexe et scientifique que l’écologie», précise Sophie Gallet, du service de promotion chez Aubanel.
Démocratiser l’écologie en l’amenant dans la sphère privée, voilà la grande idée de ces publications à tranche verte. Lesquelles, curieusement, ne brillent pas toujours par leur sens pratique. «Il y a une idéologie derrière l’écologie et même dans un livre qui se veut pratique, cela se sent; il n’y a pas de solutions toutes faites dans ce domaine, pas de recettes, mais un comportement à adopter, une responsabilisation des gens», explique-t-elle. Tout en reconnaissant, par-delà la conviction de participer à l’édification d’un monde meilleur, que le vert est un créneau commercial simplement incontournable en ce moment: «La demande est très forte.»
«Il ne se passe pas une semaine sans qu’un livre sur ce thème de l’écologie grand public paraisse, note David Rossi, de la librairie d’architecture Archigraphy à Genève. J’ai un rayon écologie depuis toujours, mais c’était, jusqu’à récemment, un domaine spécialisé, réservé aux professionnels. Puis cette thématique a explosé ces deux derniers semestres, dans la foulée du Grenelle Environnement en France, un peu avant dans les pays anglo-saxons.» Aujourd’hui? Un grand fourre-tout, où le très pointu côtoie le livre de belles images, «d’ailleurs souvent sans aucune utilité pratique, au grand désarroi des clients qui pensaient remplacer l’architecte par un ou deux bouquins».
Mais alors qu’est-ce qui fait vendre? Pas besoin d’allonger ce nouveau lecteur vert sur le divan pour en sonder les moteurs: ils carburent autant à la culpabilité qu’au rêve de la cabane au milieu de rien. Quels parents oseraient en effet passer à côté de Une chambre d’enfant saine et écologique (Ed. Ulmer, janvier 09) ou, encore plus voyou, du très perrenoudien J’attends une maison (Ed. La Pierre verte)? «Celui-ci est parmi les plus complets et aussi les plus dogmatiques, s’amuse David Rossi, qui l’a en rayon depuis des années. Il en est à sa cinquième édition, imprimé sur papier recyclé et cite nommément les entreprises écolo-bio fiables.»
Du pur et dur donc, mais qui n’échappe pas au plus fort des paradoxes de cette littérature, qui continue de prendre la villa individuelle pour modèle absolu de l’habitat écologique. Alors même que tous les scénarios d’urbanisation voient en elle la nouvelle gangrène du territoire et de l’environnement. La villa écolo serait-elle le prix à payer de l’écologie pour tous?
Coaching écolo, Clara Delpas
et Michel Reuss. Ed. Aubanel.
Une chambre d’enfant saine
et écologique, Corrine Bullat.
Ed. Ulmer.
J’attends une maison,
Ed. La Pierre verte.
Home écolo chic, Ed. Fleurus, 09.08.
Petites maisons en pleine nature,
Ed. Links.
Maisons naturelles, Ed. du Toucan.
Des maisons écologique,
Ed. Aubanel.
La maison écologique un choix d’avenir, Ed. Rustica.
Maisons écolo, Ed. du Chêne.
Le b.a.-ba de l’habitat écologique,
Ed. Rustica
L’architecture écologique,
Ed. Le Moniteur (livre pour les professionnels)
Revue Ecologik
3/07/2009
Chronique de la Révolution Verte
L'une des conséquences certaine de la crise que nous traversons devrait être le retour des VRAIS scientifiques.
Je parle de ceux qui avaient déserté les laboratoires de recherches pour les trading rooms de wall street. Non seulement wall street ne leur offre plus de débouché mais surtout les gouvernements devraient leur proposer prochainement des statuts revalorisés, des subventions pour leur travaux, en un mot, de vrais jobs !
Ils vont certainement peser lourd dans la révolution verte qui a commencé et qui sera sans doute la clef du retour à la croissance, jusqu'à ce que comme dans l'internet, une bulle verte n'éclate à son tour ! Mais nous n'en sommes pas encore là.
Je parle de ceux qui avaient déserté les laboratoires de recherches pour les trading rooms de wall street. Non seulement wall street ne leur offre plus de débouché mais surtout les gouvernements devraient leur proposer prochainement des statuts revalorisés, des subventions pour leur travaux, en un mot, de vrais jobs !
Ils vont certainement peser lourd dans la révolution verte qui a commencé et qui sera sans doute la clef du retour à la croissance, jusqu'à ce que comme dans l'internet, une bulle verte n'éclate à son tour ! Mais nous n'en sommes pas encore là.
Des piétons aussi grands que des voitures
L’ingénieur civil autrichien Hermann Knoflacher a inventé en 1975 la gehzeug, ou « marchemobile », pour permettre au piéton d’occuper l’espace que prend approximativement un automobiliste. Sa marchemobile est idéale pour protester contre la primauté accordée à l’automobile dans la ville, ou simplement pour se promener au milieu de la circulation. L’expérience de Knoflacher, qui a été reprise dans d’autres villes de l’Autriche à la Thaïlande, illustre les possibilités spatiales de zones urbaines sans automobiles.
Hermann Knoflacher est ingénieur des transports à Vienne. Depuis 1985, il est directeur de l’Institut de l'aménagement du transport et de l’ingénierie de la circulation à l’Université technique de Vienne.
3/06/2009
Crude May Reach $60 Should OPEC Cut, BlueGold Says
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Oil may rise 35 percent to $60 a barrel should OPEC agree to cut production this month, according to BlueGold Capital Management LLP, the London hedge fund that returned 31 percent this year on energy trades.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may agree to cut output for the fourth time since September at a meeting on March 15 in Vienna to shore up prices that fell as much as 77 percent from a record in July. Crude oil traded at $44.33 as of 10:30 a.m. in London today.
“OPEC has shown good compliance on their output cuts and they might be successful in providing a floor to oil prices,” BlueGold Chief Investment Officer Pierre Andurand said in an interview on March 4. “Oil prices have a chance to rise to $60 soon if OPEC members carry on showing a high level of compliance and announce another cut.”
Crude has rebounded 11 percent since March 3, partly on speculation OPEC will cut output. The group, accounting for 40 percent of world supply, may act after the International Energy Agency forecast demand this year will drop the most since 1982. U.S. crude stockpiles expanded 7.7 percent this year and are near their highest since July 2007.
BlueGold has returned 307 percent since starting operations in February last year, 32-year-old Andurand said. The money manager began trading oil in 2000 with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s J. Aron & Co. unit in Singapore. He co-founded BlueGold with Dennis Crema, 48, who has traded energy for more than two decades.
BlueGold’s assets under management peaked at $1.3 billion in January, falling to $830 million in February as investors sought to raise cash, Andurand said. This year’s performance has increased assets to $1 billion. The fund is seeking additional investment, he said.
Economic Slump
The world economic slump is unlikely to end any time soon, the money manager said. Governments and central banks are spending trillions of dollars to combat the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. More than $31 trillion has been erased from the value of global equities in the past year.
“We are more likely to see deflation than inflation over the next few years,” Andurand said. “It could be a multi-year process, with a danger of lasting more than a decade if governments don’t react aggressively enough.”
Hedge funds lost 19 percent on average in 2008, the worst year since Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research started tracking data in 1990. They were little changed in January. BlueGold returned about 16 percent in February.
Hedge funds are private and largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets and make bets on falling as well as rising asset prices and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjaroen@bloomberg
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Oil may rise 35 percent to $60 a barrel should OPEC agree to cut production this month, according to BlueGold Capital Management LLP, the London hedge fund that returned 31 percent this year on energy trades.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may agree to cut output for the fourth time since September at a meeting on March 15 in Vienna to shore up prices that fell as much as 77 percent from a record in July. Crude oil traded at $44.33 as of 10:30 a.m. in London today.
“OPEC has shown good compliance on their output cuts and they might be successful in providing a floor to oil prices,” BlueGold Chief Investment Officer Pierre Andurand said in an interview on March 4. “Oil prices have a chance to rise to $60 soon if OPEC members carry on showing a high level of compliance and announce another cut.”
Crude has rebounded 11 percent since March 3, partly on speculation OPEC will cut output. The group, accounting for 40 percent of world supply, may act after the International Energy Agency forecast demand this year will drop the most since 1982. U.S. crude stockpiles expanded 7.7 percent this year and are near their highest since July 2007.
BlueGold has returned 307 percent since starting operations in February last year, 32-year-old Andurand said. The money manager began trading oil in 2000 with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s J. Aron & Co. unit in Singapore. He co-founded BlueGold with Dennis Crema, 48, who has traded energy for more than two decades.
BlueGold’s assets under management peaked at $1.3 billion in January, falling to $830 million in February as investors sought to raise cash, Andurand said. This year’s performance has increased assets to $1 billion. The fund is seeking additional investment, he said.
Economic Slump
The world economic slump is unlikely to end any time soon, the money manager said. Governments and central banks are spending trillions of dollars to combat the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. More than $31 trillion has been erased from the value of global equities in the past year.
“We are more likely to see deflation than inflation over the next few years,” Andurand said. “It could be a multi-year process, with a danger of lasting more than a decade if governments don’t react aggressively enough.”
Hedge funds lost 19 percent on average in 2008, the worst year since Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research started tracking data in 1990. They were little changed in January. BlueGold returned about 16 percent in February.
Hedge funds are private and largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets and make bets on falling as well as rising asset prices and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjaroen@bloomberg
New Fund Of Funds To Focus On Pure-Play Cleantech Investments
February 17, 2009 CleanTechBrief
The Far Hills Group, a financial services firm specializing in the placement of alternative investment offerings, has joined forces with cleantech fund manager Russell Diamond to form Solution Capital Partners, a cleantech fund of funds manager.
Russell Diamond, the former manager of a smaller cleantech-focused fund-of-funds, R&D Capital Partners, will handle to the day-to-day management of the new fund, according to peHUB.
Solution’s investment committee will include members of the Far Hills Group, who will provide due diligence assistance on potential investments and help raise capital.
Geoffrey Bradshaw-Mack, a managing director with Far Hills Group, told peHUB the joint venture was the result of Far Hills professionals investing in Diamond’s previous fund. Bradshaw-Mack said many LPs have indicated strong interest in cleantech – particularly given the pending stimulus bill – but that some are seeking a broadly-diversified strategy.
Solution hopes to raise $200 million, with a $350 million cap, roughly 25% of which will go to early-stage VC, half to growth-stage/late-stage and the remainder to “opportunistic” situations. Solution expects to invest chiefly in pure-play cleantech funds.
The Far Hills Group, a financial services firm specializing in the placement of alternative investment offerings, has joined forces with cleantech fund manager Russell Diamond to form Solution Capital Partners, a cleantech fund of funds manager.
Russell Diamond, the former manager of a smaller cleantech-focused fund-of-funds, R&D Capital Partners, will handle to the day-to-day management of the new fund, according to peHUB.
Solution’s investment committee will include members of the Far Hills Group, who will provide due diligence assistance on potential investments and help raise capital.
Geoffrey Bradshaw-Mack, a managing director with Far Hills Group, told peHUB the joint venture was the result of Far Hills professionals investing in Diamond’s previous fund. Bradshaw-Mack said many LPs have indicated strong interest in cleantech – particularly given the pending stimulus bill – but that some are seeking a broadly-diversified strategy.
Solution hopes to raise $200 million, with a $350 million cap, roughly 25% of which will go to early-stage VC, half to growth-stage/late-stage and the remainder to “opportunistic” situations. Solution expects to invest chiefly in pure-play cleantech funds.
Sarasin Adds U.S. Cleantech Stocks To Power Fund
February 27, 2009
Encouraged by President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package – 13.5% of which is earmarked for climate change initiatives – Bank Sarasin is adding U.S. stocks to its New Power Fund.
“So far we haven't had such a big focus on the U.S., because in terms of renewables, it wasn't the place to be – we were more focused on Europe," Matthias Fawer, vice president of sustainable investment at Bank Sarasin, told Reuters.
"But now with the stimulus package and the slowdown in Europe, especially in the Spanish solar market, we are moving to U.S. stocks," he said.
The leading Swiss private bank expects installed wind and solar capacity to grow in 2009 in both the United States and Europe.
U.S. solar stocks chosen by Sarasin include First Solar, a thin film maker and 2.97% holding for the fund, and Energy Conversion Devices. Both could benefit from the stimulus package, as could SolarWorld, a German company with production facilities in the U.S. – at 4.89%, it was the largest holding in the fund as of the end of January.
The U.S. stimulus package commits $106 billion to climate change initiatives, according to Deutsche Asset Management figures released this week. Of this, $85 billion will go to direct spending and $21 billion to renewable energy tax breaks.
The direct spending will include investment to improve the efficiency of the electricity grid, and in new power lines to connect renewables to big cities.
In light of this, Bank Sarasin has added stocks like General Cable and ITC Holdings to its portfolio. ITC is to build a $12 billion transmission line to carry wind-generated electricity.
The fund has also invested in Itron, a manufacturer of “smart” meters, which could benefit from energy conservation grants.
Florida Power & Light Group (3.08% of the fund at end-January) is believed to be in a good position to take advantage of project financing.
Lipper data showed the Sarasin New Power Fund down 55.17% in the 12 months to the end of January. The fund family has an estimated $274.8 million in assets under management.
Encouraged by President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package – 13.5% of which is earmarked for climate change initiatives – Bank Sarasin is adding U.S. stocks to its New Power Fund.
“So far we haven't had such a big focus on the U.S., because in terms of renewables, it wasn't the place to be – we were more focused on Europe," Matthias Fawer, vice president of sustainable investment at Bank Sarasin, told Reuters.
"But now with the stimulus package and the slowdown in Europe, especially in the Spanish solar market, we are moving to U.S. stocks," he said.
The leading Swiss private bank expects installed wind and solar capacity to grow in 2009 in both the United States and Europe.
U.S. solar stocks chosen by Sarasin include First Solar, a thin film maker and 2.97% holding for the fund, and Energy Conversion Devices. Both could benefit from the stimulus package, as could SolarWorld, a German company with production facilities in the U.S. – at 4.89%, it was the largest holding in the fund as of the end of January.
The U.S. stimulus package commits $106 billion to climate change initiatives, according to Deutsche Asset Management figures released this week. Of this, $85 billion will go to direct spending and $21 billion to renewable energy tax breaks.
The direct spending will include investment to improve the efficiency of the electricity grid, and in new power lines to connect renewables to big cities.
In light of this, Bank Sarasin has added stocks like General Cable and ITC Holdings to its portfolio. ITC is to build a $12 billion transmission line to carry wind-generated electricity.
The fund has also invested in Itron, a manufacturer of “smart” meters, which could benefit from energy conservation grants.
Florida Power & Light Group (3.08% of the fund at end-January) is believed to be in a good position to take advantage of project financing.
Lipper data showed the Sarasin New Power Fund down 55.17% in the 12 months to the end of January. The fund family has an estimated $274.8 million in assets under management.
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