Gore’s Climate Solutions Fund Worth $683 Million

The Financial Times reports:

The investment vehicle headed by Al Gore has closed a new $683m fund to invest in early-stage environmental companies and has mounted a robust defence of green investing.

The Climate Solutions Fund will be one of the biggest in the growing market for investment funds with an environmental slant.

The fund’s co-chair, David Blood, points out the new fund was able to raise all this green despite the recent hiccups in the global economy:

Mr Blood said raising $683m for the new fund in the midst of “market disruption” showed the resilience of green investing. “The fact we were able to raise $683m was extraordinary, so our experience is that it has not really been a problem [raising funds despite what is] generally a difficult environment,” he told the Financial Times.

“A fear expressed by some is that the first thing to go in a downturn is the nice-to-have sort of investment. Some people put green investments in that category, but we think that is nonsense. This is not nice-to-have – it is fundamental finance…because the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy is a ginormous step that is going to happen quickly,” he said.

And Al Gore has put his money where his mouth is in a “ginormous” way:

Both Mr Gore and Mr Blood had invested in the new fund to a “pretty sizeable” extent, Mr Blood said.

I wonder if any of this cash will go to financing green energy bloggers…here’s to hoping!

Gore’s Climate Solutions Fund Worth $683 Million

The Financial Times reports:

The investment vehicle headed by Al Gore has closed a new $683m fund to invest in early-stage environmental companies and has mounted a robust defence of green investing.

The Climate Solutions Fund will be one of the biggest in the growing market for investment funds with an environmental slant.

The fund’s co-chair, David Blood, points out the new fund was able to raise all this green despite the recent hiccups in the global economy:

Mr Blood said raising $683m for the new fund in the midst of “market disruption” showed the resilience of green investing. “The fact we were able to raise $683m was extraordinary, so our experience is that it has not really been a problem [raising funds despite what is] generally a difficult environment,” he told the Financial Times.

“A fear expressed by some is that the first thing to go in a downturn is the nice-to-have sort of investment. Some people put green investments in that category, but we think that is nonsense. This is not nice-to-have – it is fundamental finance…because the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy is a ginormous step that is going to happen quickly,” he said.

And Al Gore has put his money where his mouth is in a “ginormous” way:

Both Mr Gore and Mr Blood had invested in the new fund to a “pretty sizeable” extent, Mr Blood said.

I wonder if any of this cash will go to financing green energy bloggers…here’s to hoping!

This Climate Change Solution Sucks (Literally)

Most methods of combating climate change focus on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions on the front end–whether it be through greater efficiency or increased use of alternative energy.

But some scientists are developing ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide once it’s already in the atmosphere.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Here’s a simple solution to global warming: vacuum carbon dioxide out of the air.

Klaus Lackner, a physicist at Columbia University, said placing enough carbon filters around the planet could reel the world’s atmosphere back toward the 18th century, like a climatic time machine.

After a decade of work, his shower-sized prototype whirs away inside a Tucson warehouse, each day capturing about 10 pounds of the heat-trapping greenhouse gas as air wafts through it.

Only a few billion tons to go.

Though the device works, it doesn’t sound very practical:

In the battle against global warming, technology has long been seen as the ultimate savior, but Lackner’s machine is a clunky reminder of how distant that dream is.

He estimates that sucking up the current stream of emissions would require about 67 million boxcar-sized filters at a cost of trillions of dollars a year.

The orchards of filters would have to be powered by complexes of new nuclear plants, dams, solar farms or other clean-energy sources to avoid adding more pollution to the atmosphere.

The LA Times has a nice picture to give the reader a sense of what your average 22nd century “CO2-Buster” farm might look like:

By Professor Lackner’s estimates, to eliminate the necessary amount of CO2 “would require spreading out his machines over a land area the size of Arizona.”

This Climate Change Solution Sucks (Literally)

Most methods of combating climate change focus on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions on the front end–whether it be through greater efficiency or increased use of alternative energy.

But some scientists are developing ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide once it’s already in the atmosphere.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Here’s a simple solution to global warming: vacuum carbon dioxide out of the air.

Klaus Lackner, a physicist at Columbia University, said placing enough carbon filters around the planet could reel the world’s atmosphere back toward the 18th century, like a climatic time machine.

After a decade of work, his shower-sized prototype whirs away inside a Tucson warehouse, each day capturing about 10 pounds of the heat-trapping greenhouse gas as air wafts through it.

Only a few billion tons to go.

Though the device works, it doesn’t sound very practical:

In the battle against global warming, technology has long been seen as the ultimate savior, but Lackner’s machine is a clunky reminder of how distant that dream is.

He estimates that sucking up the current stream of emissions would require about 67 million boxcar-sized filters at a cost of trillions of dollars a year.

The orchards of filters would have to be powered by complexes of new nuclear plants, dams, solar farms or other clean-energy sources to avoid adding more pollution to the atmosphere.

The LA Times has a nice picture to give the reader a sense of what your average 22nd century “CO2-Buster” farm might look like:

By Professor Lackner’s estimates, to eliminate the necessary amount of CO2 “would require spreading out his machines over a land area the size of Arizona.”

Sucks for Arizona.

Getting a Tax Rebate? Home Depot Can Help

Starting this week, the federal government is sending out tax rebate checks to around 130 million households. Not surprisingly, big retailers want you to spend your check at their store, and they’re offering big discounts to do it.

But Home Depot has a novel idea:

Home Depot is urging customers to use rebates to invest in the environment and cut energy bills. It’ll offer discounts through July on compact fluorescent light bulbs and Energy Star appliances. That helps “take a short-term stimulus and turn it into a long-term investment,” spokeswoman Jean Niemi says.

The company is pushing it’s Eco Options line of products, which it launched in April 2007. Their Eco Options include:

…all-natural insect repellents, cellulose insulation, front-load washing machines, organic plant food and vegetables in biodegradable pots. The wide array of Eco Options also includes compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, programmable thermostats and certified wood.

Sure beats just dumping your rebate into your gas tank.

Getting a Tax Rebate? Home Depot Can Help

Starting this week, the federal government is sending out tax rebate checks to around 130 million households. Not surprisingly, big retailers want you to spend your check at their store, and they’re offering big discounts to do it.

But Home Depot has a novel idea:

Home Depot is urging customers to use rebates to invest in the environment and cut energy bills. It’ll offer discounts through July on compact fluorescent light bulbs and Energy Star appliances. That helps “take a short-term stimulus and turn it into a long-term investment,” spokeswoman Jean Niemi says.

The company is pushing it’s Eco Options line of products, which it launched in April 2007. Their Eco Options include:

…all-natural insect repellents, cellulose insulation, front-load washing machines, organic plant food and vegetables in biodegradable pots. The wide array of Eco Options also includes compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, programmable thermostats and certified wood.

Sure beats just dumping your rebate into your gas tank.

The Bad (or Good?) News on Gas Prices

From the Associated Press:

Oil prices hit an all-time high near $120 a barrel Monday after a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain’s North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K. […]

In the U.S., retail gasoline also hit a record for the 13th straight time. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.603, up four-tenths of a cent from the previous day, according to auto organization AAA.

That’s bad news for the average SUV-owner, but good news for the average oil company:

And as Gristmill points out, it’s also good news for those of us that know only higher gas prices will change consumer behavior and shift us away from fossil fuels:

Only high energy prices–prices that internalize the grievous costs of energy extraction and combustion via gas taxes and revenue-neutral carbon taxes–can instill the incentives and propagate the behaviors that will move us and other nations off of oil and off of carbon in the nick of time.

It’s a tough message for a politician to sell–and don’t look for any of the ’08 hopefuls to go beyond what Obama said in Anderson, IN: “The only way we’re going to lower gas prices over the long term is if we start using less oil.”

Ultimately, sustained higher gas prices will mean decreased demand for fuel–and that’s a good thing. We’re already seeing these kinds of effects in car purchasing, with Americans buying more hybrids and fewer trucks in March.

The Bad (or Good?) News on Gas Prices

From the Associated Press:

Oil prices hit an all-time high near $120 a barrel Monday after a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain’s North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K. […]

In the U.S., retail gasoline also hit a record for the 13th straight time. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.603, up four-tenths of a cent from the previous day, according to auto organization AAA.

That’s bad news for the average SUV-owner, but good news for the average oil company.

And as Gristmill points out, it’s also good news for those of us that know only higher gas prices will change consumer behavior and shift us away from fossil fuels:

Only high energy prices–prices that internalize the grievous costs of energy extraction and combustion via gas taxes and revenue-neutral carbon taxes–can instill the incentives and propagate the behaviors that will move us and other nations off of oil and off of carbon in the nick of time.

It’s a tough message for a politician to sell–and don’t look for any of the ’08 hopefuls to go beyond what Obama said in Anderson, IN: “The only way we’re going to lower gas prices over the long term is if we start using less oil.”

Ultimately, sustained higher gas prices will mean decreased demand for fuel–and that’s a good thing. We’re already seeing these kinds of effects in car purchasing, with Americans buying more hybrids and fewer trucks in March.

CO2-Belching Ohio Going Green

Nearly forty years ago, Ohio’s “chocolate-brown, oily” Cuyahoga River burned. But today, the state is stepping out in front on renewable energy usage. Now that’s what I call progress.

From Gristmill:

Ohio gets 87 percent of its electricity from coal (and the rest is mostly nukes), putting it in the upper echelon of coal-using states in the nation (No. 2 behind Texas, to be precise).

And that, friends, is about to change, because yesterday the Ohio Legislature passed a renewable energy standard requiring utilities to provide 12.5 percent of Ohio’s electricity from clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2025. This bill has a solar-specific requirement that will result in about 594 MW of solar in the Buckeye State. Not too shabby!

Live in Ohio? Click here to ask Gov. Strickland to sign the bill into law.

CO2-Belching Ohio Going Green

Nearly forty years ago, Ohio’s “chocolate-brown, oily” Cuyahoga River burned. But today, the state is stepping out in front on renewable energy usage. Now that’s what I call progress.

From Gristmill:

Ohio gets 87 percent of its electricity from coal (and the rest is mostly nukes), putting it in the upper echelon of coal-using states in the nation (No. 2 behind Texas, to be precise).

And that, friends, is about to change, because yesterday the Ohio Legislature passed a renewable energy standard requiring utilities to provide 12.5 percent of Ohio’s electricity from clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2025. This bill has a solar-specific requirement that will result in about 594 MW of solar in the Buckeye State. Not too shabby!

Live in Ohio? Click here to ask Gov. Strickland to sign the bill into law.