According to the Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (SEFI) sustainable energy investment went up by 60% in 2007 compared to 2006. About $148.4 billion of new money was raised in 2007. Also, renewable energy accounted for 31 gigawatts (23%) of global new power generation capacity added in 2007, and 5.4% of installed generation capacity. This was despite a global slowdown due to the credit crunch.

The wind sector is the primary technology being invested in world wide, having raked in a total of $51b worth of investments.
Next came Solar with $28b, Biofuels $19b, Biomass & Waste $10b, Other Renew $3b, Efficiency $2.8b and Other Low carbon projects got $2.4b.
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Asian Development Bank (ADB) has setup a new fund which will provide financing for green projects in the Asia Pacific region that can generate carbon credits beyond 2012. The initial fund size is $100 million and could be increased to $200 million if the demand calls for it.

ADB is concerned that since the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period expires on 31 December 2012, this could hamper the trading in post-2012 carbon credits. In turn this will affect the interest in developing new clean energy projects and other climate change initiatives in developing countries. And with the lack of long-term price incentives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, investment trends in green projects could return to normal levels. But with this fund in place, they are hoping that it can stimulate new investments in clean energy projects even before a new international agreement is reached.
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Dept of Energy (DOE) Secretary, Angelo Reyes, said that although current clean coal technology is not perfect because it doesn’t really remove CO2 from the burnt coal they have to consider this power source necessary in order to prevent the looming energy crisis that the Philippines is about to face in 2009, most especially in the Visayas region. Depending on the size and location of the plant, it can take anywhere from 2-4 years to commission a coal fire power plant.

Clean coal technology reduces the sulfur and nitrous oxide released into the air which are harmful to the ozone layer.
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I decided to do a rehash of an old post showing Biofuel Data on Google Trends. Google Trends is a nifty tool to see what the in-demand search queries are as well as the volume of a particular keyword that is being searched. Yep, the ultimate strategic planning tool for the sales, marketing and long range planning folks.

With the recent spike in oil prices it was logical to assume that there would be once again a lot of search queries on alternative energy. I wanted to set a base line so I did this by checking the performance of the keyword “oil price” [click on image] since if you’re planning to study the feasibility of alternative energy products you would most likely check what the price of oil is for comparison.
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According to Opposition Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano, The Philippine President failed to ensure that the different fuel sources will be taxed uniformly in the modified Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

According to the report:

The government collects taxes equivalent to four centavos per kilowatt hour for power generated by imported coal, but 30 centavos to 70 centavos for geothermal and P1.30 for natural gas.

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