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GreenTech Week in Review
Green Technology Featured Articles
August 10, 2013

GreenTech Week in Review

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

In green technology developments this week, a new study revealed the factors that investors and fund managers are considering before they give the go-ahead to climate-related investments.

Investors are faced with two major questions: The first is, “Weather or not?”—will global warming trigger weather events that could affect the stock’s performance? The second is, “Whether or not?”—do they want to be involved in such a risky asset class and will this stock, in particular, be a leader in its industry sector? Interestingly enough, based on the findings of the recently released “Global Investor Survey on Climate Change,” a majority of investors view climate change as a material risk —but nonetheless have retained, and in many cases, have advanced, their commitment to addressing climate change in their investment activities. This is despite wider economic challenges and continuing policy uncertainty.


The third annual poll, conducted by the New York City-based consulting group Mercer, was commissioned by the Global Investor Coalition on Climate Change (GIC). The respondents included 37 asset owners and 47 asset managers in 10 countries with collective assets totaling more than $14 trillion. Just to provide two of many interesting tidbits from the report, in response to their perceived exposure, more than half of asset owners (56 percent) have conducted formal or informal climate risk assessments of their portfolios. What’s more, an increasing number of asset owners —63 percent—said they are monitoring their existing asset managers on how they integrate climate change into their investment processes. This represents a 10 percent increase over the previous poll.

In another study just released this week, the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products industry is ensuring that its reputation remains untarnished. In its just-released 2013 Sustainability Report, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, reveals that its members cleaned up their act significantly in four benchmarked areas between 2009 and 2011. During this period, energy use decreased 9 percent, greenhouse gas emissions decreased 7 percent, water consumption decreased 5 percent and solid waste generation decreased 17 percent.

Finally, just as many electric vehicle manufacturers are offering incentives and price cuts simply to get prospective buyers behind the wheel, a new “clean diesel” model is being introduced. First, the background: Chevy this week cut the sticker price of its Volt plug-in hybrid by $5,000, or about 13 percent, down to $35,000. The number of Chevy Volts sold in July was fewer than the average number of Chevrolet Silverado pickups moved out of dealerships in a single day, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

What’s more, last month, Ford slashed the cost of its 2014 Focus EV by $4,000, bringing it down to $35,999; and last January, Nissan reduced the sticker price on its new Leaf S series to $28,800—undercutting its previous least expensive Leaf by $6,400, or 18 percent. Now, in another effort to jumpstart sales, Chevy is offering a 2014 Chevy Cruze model with a diesel engine, which uses a variable-swirl intake system to create a “perfect storm” of air and fuel that enhances performance while helping to reduce emissions.

In general, clean diesels generate at least 90 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate emissions when compared to previous-generation diesels. Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel’s emissions will meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s stringent Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards.

“All combustion engines have swirl, but having variable swirl is a real difference maker for Cruze’s diesel engine,” said Mike Siegrist, 2.0L Turbo Diesel assistant chief engineer. “Ultimately, it means more driving satisfaction with less environmental impact.”





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