Category: financial instruments

More on UK’s VAT issue with European Commission

In the recent post on Britain's taxing issue, EiD quoted Andrew Warren, Director of the UK Association for the Conservation of Energy.  Following other comments that EiD has received, Andrew has kindly provided the following extended note.  As all Europeans are trying to address how to finance energy efficiency investments, this is an important issue … Continue reading More on UK’s VAT issue with European Commission →

Innovative financing for solar energy systems

Diane Cardwell writes in the New York Times about how the Honda car company has now linked with a major solar energy installer to provide solar incentives to encourage customers in the US to buy their hybrid and electric vehicles.  It will be interesting to know if such support for renewables will be provided in … Continue reading Innovative financing for solar energy systems →

How consumers can work together to finance climate change solutions

Lisa Palmer recently provided a blog in the New York Times about how consumers can bundle their efforts to finance climate change solutions. A Climate Proposal: Bundling Consumer Buying Power Each year, an estimated 46 percent of the population is responsible for 77 percent of discretionary spending in the United States. To strengthen individual buying … Continue reading How consumers can work together to finance climate change solutions →

Energy taxes in the US now being discussed

Eduardo Porter wrote recently in the New York Times about the pros and cons of introducing energy taxes in the US.  Droughts and hurricanes are starting to stir some debate.  But the conclusion is that, even with all the benefits of new energy taxes, the US seems a long way off from introducing them. In … Continue reading Energy taxes in the US now being discussed →

A Q&A on a carbon tax versus cap-and-trade

Luca Taschini, Simon Dietz and Naomi Hicks of Grantham Research Institute recently provided a Q&A in the Guardian comparing a carbon tax against cap-and-trade.  This is a useful article for all EiD readers.   Carbon tax v cap-and-trade: which is better? Economists argue that, if the market is left to operate freely, greenhouse gas emissions … Continue reading A Q&A on a carbon tax versus cap-and-trade →

Retrofits at a fast PACE

Jim Witkin writes for the New York Times about a new financing programme for retrofits in Sacramento California.  The  programme is modelled on the PACE concept – Property Assessed Clean Energy that has no up-front costs.  As countries in Europe are starting to either implement or assess the possibility of such a scheme, it is … Continue reading Retrofits at a fast PACE →

Is the Green Deal a big deal?

Everyone in Europe is watching with great interest how the Green Deal will be implemented in Britain.  It is one of the big “experiments” in trying to improve financing for building retrofits.  The Green Deal has just started and it has, not surprisingly, gained much press attention.  This article by Lisa Bachelor for The Observer … Continue reading Is the Green Deal a big deal? →

Two new reports from the IEA

The International Energy Agency publishes many reports annually.  Two recent ones should be of special interest to EiD readers. The first is on the use and public funding of economic instruments, i.e. government financial tools, in IEA countries to support energy efficiency, particularly in the buildings sector. It is called "Mobilising investment in energy efficiency" … Continue reading Two new reports from the IEA →