Renewables: Financing is up but uncertainty remains

Financing is flooding back into the renewable-energy sector, boosted by falling equipment prices

Limited progress towards a global climate pact and the possibility that increased natural gas use may be viewed as a better way to cut emissions in the short term are clouding the sector’s outlook. New investment in clean-energy projects – including asset finance, equity raised on public markets, venture capital and private-equity funds – totalled $45.4 billion in the third quarter, a rise of 9% over the previous quarter and up by 16% on the previous year’s third quarter, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Funding has been driven by sharp falls in equipment costs in the solar and wind industries, and a gradual return to economic growth in industrialised countries. The average