KPMG has published an interesting survey of mergers and acquisitions in the renewable energy industry. Major conclusions include: Deal volume has, of course, fallen from nearly $26 billion in 2007 to a little over $18 billion in 2008 … … With the billion-dollar transactions of 2008 being replaced by smaller-sized deals in the $300-500 million […]
Gorgon’s new model for liabilities of carbon capture and sequestration
The WSJ has an interesting blog uncovering an under-reported aspect of the $37-billion Gorgon natural gas project in Australia being developed by Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will be responsible for the storage of the carbon-dioxide resulting from the natural-gas project during its operating lifetime and for 15 years […]
Irrational exuberance or legit joy?
The New York Times has published a piece commenting on the flood of recent oil field discoveries, far exceeding the pace in this decade. Much as this is cause for joy, new oil finds are deeper, costlier, and more difficult to process. Finally, we ought to have a few more data points before calling a […]
Will renewable energy benefit from R&D investments?
In a presentation, Rice University’s Baker Institute scholars have looked at patenting activity over the past few decades, government funding in R&D, and potential impacts on renewable energy. Their conclusion is surprising: Lower government funding in renewable energy reflects R&D’s declining productivity (based on patents) rather than lack of support. While more details are necessary […]
Wanted: Higher carbon prices
If we want higher carbon prices to incentivize projects that reduce carbon emissions, the latest auction in the United States’ only mandated carbon market — the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — wasn’t good news. The price of a ton of carbon dioxide equivalent fell from $3.23 in June to $2.19 this month. Why? Utilities are […]
Friedman on solar energy: Invented in U.S., sold abroad
Tom Friedman visited Applied Materials recently and has written a piece in the New York Times hypothesizing why all of its solar panel factories are abroad. His conclusion: … their governments have put in place the three prerequisites for growing a renewable energy industry: 1) any business or homeowner can generate solar energy; 2) if […]
Suzlon’s technology woes
Forbes has just launched a business magazine focusing on India and has done a great — if wordy — story on the Indian wind turbine maker, Suzlon. Suzlon is the story of an entrepreneur — Tulsi Tanti — who sold his inherited textile business to start from scratch a renewable energy business installing and servicing […]
Continued growth for U.S. onshore wind energy projects
Executing on a strategic decision to focus on the U.S. onshore wind energy market, BP has exiting from other countries. It has just sold 100 MW of wind energy capacity in India to Green Infra Limited, an independent power producer backed by India’s infrastructure-focused private equity group, IDFC. BP’s decision mirrors those of Shell and […]
European refineries on sale
Several refineries are being sold in Europe — see table below based on Reuters data — because of moderating demand for fuels, the resulting overcapacity, growing share of biofuels, and anticipated expense associated with reducing carbon emissions. It is interesting that most bidders are the emerging economies such as India, China, and Russia, where rapid economic […]
Solar energy’s growth pangs
First Solar, the Arizona-based world’s largest maker of solar cells, breaks into the difficult Chinese market with a $5-6-billion deal to build a two gigawatt plant and a stock analyst downgrades the company’s stock from “hold” to “sell” and halves the target price. Why? In the analyst’s words: Even the best thin-film manufacturer in the […]
