Edinburgh to be location of Worlds first green investment bank

Edinburgh is to be the location of the worlds first green investment bank headquarters, the UK business secretary has announced. The banks main transaction team will be based in London. Other cities, like Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham bid for the honour but lost out to the Edinburgh-London combination. The GIB will be the world’s first investment bank solely dedicated to greening the economy and will spend UK£3 billion (US$4.737 billion) between now and 2015.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Edinburgh has a thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management. London, as the world’s leading financial centre, will ensure that the GIB’s transaction team can hit the ground running. This decision will allow the UK GIB to operate effectively and achieve its mission of mobilising the additional investment needed to accelerate the UK’s transition to a green economy." Read more ...

Dragons den style renewable energy event 2012

On January 18, a dragon den renewable event will look at new energy generating ideas, such as Algae photo-bioreactors, a new generation of sea and wind turbines, bio char and bio coal, along with several waste to energy ideas and two new sea powered energy generation concepts. None of these new concepts have been publicly aired.

The panel will consist of six experts with broad experience and skills. They will also be able to advise on different topic like funding, legal, incentives and sector specific advice. The audience will also be allowed to ask questions of the panel. The event will be held in London on Wednesday January 18, 6 pm at BDO LLP, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU. Read more ...

Biomass could lead to a race for land grab acquisition

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), based in London is raising concern over the global demand for biomass fuels, could to a race for land acquisition in the developing world. This would have a major effect on the poor and hungry, with less land to grow crops for food. Already many countries are importing wood pellets and the demand for wood and other biomass crops could exceed supply by up to 600 percent. Read more ...