What future for renewables investment?

Cutting subsidies from clean-energy projects has hurt banks and private equity investors – but there are still opportunities

Clean energy has been a boon for venture capitalists and private-equity firms with money to splash in the market in recent years—and output has followed. Last year, falling costs led to a record rise in renewable capacity globally. Investors ploughed more money into the sector than they did in fossil fuels. As BNP Paribas's Mark Muldowney told the Bloomberg New Energy Finance's (BNEF) summit in London this week, investing in renewables is "the right thing to do, but also it's a great business opportunity". But the happy overlap between the profitable and the ethical may be coming to an end. In 2008, private-equity and venture-capital investment in clean energy hit $12.4bn. It fell to a low o