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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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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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From Early Adopters to Tech Laggards: Understanding Off-Grid Energy Customers
The team at 60 Decibels recently set out to understand the motivations of customers served by off-grid energy firms in Africa. Researchers quizzed customers in Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia about their attitudes and behaviours toward new products to find out who were the early innovators, early adopters or tech laggards. Kat Harrison and Hassan Nasser of 60 Decibels explain the research and how firms can convert ambivalent customers into product ambassadors.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Impact Assessment, Technology
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What Rural Solar Energy Enterprises Can Learn from Mobisol’s Hard-Earned Lesson
Energy access pioneer Mobisol’s insolvency, announced last spring, sparked questions about the industry’s health. But according to Rob Goodier, managing editor at Engineering for Change, subsequent analyses suggest that many of the company's problems were internal, not a reflection of the industry as a whole. He explores what the rural energy sector can learn from Mobisol’s struggles, based on interviews with industry insiders and two people close to the company.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Jeff Bezos Unveils Sweeping Plan to Tackle Climate Change
Bezos expects 80% of Amazon’s energy use to come from renewable sources by 2024, before transitioning to zero emissions by 2030.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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