Global Shift to Clean Energy No Longer ‘Theoretical’
rbarnes
Posted On février 24, 2014
We’re not totally screwed. I doubt Ethan Zindler would use those exact words to describe the rapid global transition to cleaner forms of energy he’s spent the past eight years or so tracking for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But that’s the feeling I was left with after reaching him by phone recently at the market intelligence firm’s Washington, D.C. offices. Zindler, its head of policy analysis, doesn’t advocate for clean energy. His job is to make sense of the sector’s latest financial data.
These days the data tell a powerful story. Recent price declines for solar energy have been « massive, » he explained, while merely « substantial » for wind, meaning that a global shift away from fossil fuels is no longer « theoretical. » It’s happening, and fast. Zindler will describe B.C.’s potential role in that transition March 4 at a Vancouver lunchtime event organized by Clean Energy Canada (click here for tickets and further details).
Read on to learn other surprising insights from The Tyee’s recent Q&A with Zindler: why libertarians are embracing solar power, what renewables providers really think of carbon taxes, and how clean energy has earned the right to no longer be called « alternative. »
On why Bloomberg New Energy Finance exists:
« Our view is there’s a major and very abrupt transition underway in the energy sector and so we’re interested in the ‘new’ part of energy, which is new technologies that are changing how energy is produced, and also delivered and consumed.
« We’re best known for our research on renewables, but we do also track… energy efficiency, and we’re increasingly focusing on natural gas, but really the new and novel uses of natural gas. »
