Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Whether Green New Dealers or carbon taxers no allowance seems to be made for opposition to the projects needed to get the US off the fossil fuel standard. The parties to the conflicts are not just climate defenders and deniers.
An Indigenous-led coalition is fundraising to install solar panels along the route of the Keystone XL pipeline to protest the project and provide renewable energy to family farms and Native communities in Nebraska and South Dakota.
The Port of Los Angeles—the nation’s largest port by container volume and cargo value—is building the world’s first marine terminal able to generate all of its energy needs from renewables.
While the burning of fossil fuels causes climate change, simply shutting down these industries leaves workers and their families behind, and often result in a familiar conflict over “jobs versus the environment.”
But how does this push for fracking compare to a different approach, one built around community renewables, community ownership, and energy being seen in a wider context of local economic regeneration and resilience? Let’s see …
Financing of renewable energy (RE) projects is hampered by two systemic economic effects – market ‘externalities’ that make RE projects appear less attractive (versus fossil fuel development) than they should; and the effect of embedded interest in the cost of capital. For a particular RE project, evaluating financing options can be intimidating. There would appear to be mileage in sharing understanding of the challenges across projects and jointly developing progressive approaches, This article has been prompted by the incipient involvement of the Feasta Currency Group in the financial engineering of a specific wind energy project in Ireland, of which more in due course.
