Glory Days May Be Gone For Green Energy

Forbes.com (Jun 8 2009) Solar , Wind

1. Big banks that invested in clean tech for tax breaks no longer have an incentive, and private equity and the government may not fill the void. Proponents of renewable energy may come to savor memories of 2006-08, boom years when record investment flowed into green energy projects and wind and solar electric generating capacity grew exponentially. It's doubtful whether the rapid pace of development will be repeated soon, despite the best efforts of Congress to promote green projects via climate and energy legislation. Why the pessimism? Banks such as Lehman Brothers ( LEHMQ - news - people ), that, in the run-up to the financial crisis, financed green projects in return for tax credits, either no longer exist or, if they do, labor on with billions of dollars of losses on their balance sheets. "It's a tax-equity issue," says John P. Gimigliano, head of KPMG's Sustainability Tax Practice in Washington and ... (Read Full Article)

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