Editor's Letter: What Will The Future Hold?
Listening to a recent roundtable discussion among American utility executives, I was surprised to learn that most of them factor in the price of carbon when accounting for future energy costs. I thought that boat had passed in 2009 when the Cap and Trade bill was introduced in the House and then abandoned in favor of health care reform.ASML HOLDING ASUSTEK COMPUTER ATandT AUTODESK AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING AVNET
The trade case brought against Chinese solar manufacturers by U.S. solar-panel producer SolarWorld and six other domestic equipment makers could undermine the solar industry's significant progress at the very moment it is poised for success.
European negotiators wanted a binding agreement, and the United States seemed content to sit on the sidelines. The real focus of the U.N. climate talks, though, rested with China, India and Brazil ? nations destined for huge growth in their economies and their emissions.
Over the last 36 months, more than 100 new U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency manufacturing plants have opened in the United States.
International corporations continue to look to the Latin American market for expansion opportunities as renewable energy cements itself as a viable solution for nations with an increased level of consumption.
There is an old joke that says Brazil is the country of the future ? and always will be. But with rapid economic growth, the government claiming that some 40 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the past decade and the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on the horizon, it seems the joke is about to fall flat. Brazil's time has arrived and the country of sun, sea and samba is keen to showcase itself to the world as a positive example of how to exploit renewable energy sources as well as how to perform on the football pitch.