QUICK NEWS, February 24: GE ADDS $10BIL COMMITMENT TO ECOIMAGINATION; MANY WILL ACT TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE; WHERE THE MONEY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS

GE ADDS $10BIL COMMITMENT TO ECOIMAGINATION GE to invest a further $10B on 'ecoimagination' energy R&D

Ernest Scheyder with Terry Wade and Leslie Adler, February 24, 2014 (Reuters)

“General Electric Co plans to intensify research focusing on complex energy projects such as waterless fracking and gas turbine efficiency by earmarking an additional $10 billion through 2020 for its ‘ecoimagination’ budget…The research budget shows how reliant GE has become on the energy industry, its fastest growth area, as it works to become a dominant supplier of equipment and services to oil, natural gas and alternative power companies…[Ecoimagination has brought in $160 billion in revenue by creating new products and saved $300 million on water and emissions costs. The] new commitment gives investors a clue as to what the company's priorities will be into the next decade…[Ecoimagination] was formed in 2005…and has cost nearly $15 billion…While the overall goals of the project will remain, a larger percentage of the funds will go to energy-related projects…[This] is part of GE's larger research and development budget, worth roughly $5 billion to $6 billion per year…” click here for more

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MANY WILL ACT TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE Americans’ Actions to Limit Global Warming November 2013

February 19, 2014 (Yale University)

"…Three in ten (29%) have joined or would join a campaign to convince elected officials to take action…Nearly four in ten (36%) have joined or would join a campaign to convince elected officials to pass laws increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy…About half of Americans (53%) say they would sign a petition about global warming…About four in ten say that, if asked, they would sign a pledge to vote only for political candidates that share their views…One in four Americans would support an organization engaging in non-violent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse (24%) and one in six (17%) say they would personally engage in such actiivities…About half of Americans (48%) say that they intend to engage in consumer activism over the next 12 months - rewarding companies by buying their products and/or punishing companies by not buying their products…” click here for more

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WHERE THE MONEY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS New Lessons on Driving Demand for Energy Efficiency Financing

Casey Bell, February 20, 2014 (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy)

“Recent months have seen some exciting developments in energy efficiency finance. Investment funds, capitalized at about $200 million, are set to break into the potentially extensive market for energy efficient projects in the buildings sector…[T]he critical next step is to drive demand for energy efficiency improvements and connect this demand with available capital…[A] lack of customers actively seeking financing for energy efficiency improvements is the number one barrier to participation in the market for small to mid-size lenders…[L]enders also identified uncertainty around best practice methods for validating and underwriting energy savings as substantive key barriers…Developing [the customer base] will require a better understanding of how to serve those customers better…” click here for more

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