China's infrastructure investments contain green and gray

Green Bonds: They're Becoming a Standard and They're In Need of Clear Standards

Abdeali Saherwala
More than a trillion dollars' worth of green bonds have found buyers around the world, but standards for defining what makes a bond green remain watery. How fast and how far can this technique extend before standards make it more reliably predictive of carbon savings- or before an investor loses...
Charlotte, NC hybrid bus

Industrial Policy Can Set the USA on a Decarbonization Pathway

Pari Kasotia
The United States, under its Paris Agreement commitments, must become carbon-free by 2050. Its Congress appears nowhere close to passing laws that would spark an energy transition, though. So the government's executive branch should craft a green industrial policy that mixes incentives, procurement, tax credits and other tools to bring...
Indonesia's far-flung communities need power for a host of purposes, including rice production

Sumba Sustainable Solutions, a member company in the New Energy Nexus, produces solar-powered rice mills. 

Divergent Paths for Renewable Energy Startups: Visiting an Indonesian Incubator

Ines Ayostina
Though renewable energy startups have begun to find their way in Indonesia, they are not yet widely known. However, with support from stakeholders and with efforts from those stakeholders to improve regulatory clarity, startups can gain traction. One international team has set out to offer advice, advocacy, and capital to...
Solar panels being installed

This professional had to climb to get to this spot: community solar investors and innovators have to climb over hurdles, too. 

Community Solar's Bend Toward Energy Justice: Challenge Accepted

Kevin Cellucci
For those coming with fresh eyes to this series, please read the previous two articles about community solar. In the first article of the series, I explored the economic and energy equity opportunity of the community solar sector. The subsequent article investigated challenges within the market from a policy and...
Climate attitudes in Colorado, courtesy the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

With the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications showing this range of climate concern, should Colorado operate under one electricity provider? 

Decarbonizing the Rockies: A Policy Memo on Colorado's Electricity Market

Aurora Sepp-Peterson
Participants in CBEY's Financing and Deploying Clean Energy certificate program learn technology, finance, policy and climate science. Policy savvy locks in when they write real memos to real players. In this example, a professional in Colorado's community-solar industry encourages a state Senator to work on fostering competition in the state's...
A view from above, courtesy CIFOR, of a promised capital city for Indonesia. Do you see a place for a solar grid?

A view from above, courtesy CIFOR, of a promised capital city for Indonesia. Do you see a place for a solar grid? 

Can Indonesia's New Capital Attract Capital for Renewable Energy?

Vania Farid
Indonesia's president promised to stoke economic development by relocating the capital city. Can this project spark a pattern of investment in utility-scale solar? It can, but activists and investors need to see through a tangle of loyalties among the government, the state-owned utility and the coal business. This chronicle explains...
Can these Louisiana workers find prosperity making offshore wind equipment?

Workers, investors and policymakers peer into the Gulf Coast's future. (Courtesy the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.)

Big, But Not Easy: Can Offshore Wind Spark Economic Transformation in the Gulf Coast?

Tyler Clevenger
Some have tried and none have managed to sync America’s clean energy ambitions with its fossil-based heritage through federal policy. The current administration is trying in many industries, including offshore wind manufacturing. That warrants a look at the Gulf Coast. Known as a longtime oil and gas cluster, the Gulf...
Jigar Shah

United States Department of Energy Loan Program Office director Jigar Shah. 

A Director Brings Star Power to a Federal Loan Program Waiting to Shine

Emily Richardson
The federal Loan Program Office, within the Department of Energy, exists to help finance pioneering companies that can't yet draw hefty private capital. After a political upset sent the office into deep freeze, it revived in the past several years. Now, a new director with a reputation as an investor...
A car loads up on electricity, generating...value

(Courtesy Fairfax County, VA.) According to the Coalition's projections, this driver will soon find company. 

Firing Up a Credit Trading Market to Support Electric Vehicle Networks

Tanya Sinha
If electric vehicles reduce carbon pollution, shouldn’t they get credit for doing so? The Connecticut has started working on a partnership that lets owners, suppliers and charging vendors create and market credits for the miles the vehicles travel. The Bank registered the First Validated Multi-Partner Carbon Offset Credit...
Panels in early sunshine

What's on the other side of that installation? (Courtesy National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Wary on Credit Risk, Solar Developers Look for New Kinds of Contract Partners

Joe Langer
As more corporate leaders try to scrub carbon from their brands, more credit risk is flowing into power purchase agreements. In these deals, which involve an "offtaker" contracting to buy power from a solar developer, some developers are looking beyond traditional corporate partners. New partners can include participants in community...