Energy Consulting Services

Pressure from a new brand of investors has caused a change in lending rules. Environmental impact is now an increasingly important factor that investors will consider. On Friday, HSBC announced its promise to end its financing of coal power stations in a number of different countries as well as oil sands and Arctic offshore drilling projects. This comes in the wake of criticism by pressure groups regarding its lending rules. As the biggest bank in Europe, this move will undoubtedly cause ripples in the banking sector and could start a trend for other banks to follow. The promise highlights the pressure that investors are putting on lenders to take responsibility for their actions with regards to climate change. It also shows how the energy industry is likely to encounter obstacles more frequently as the global effort to tackle climate change is ramped up. Climate change campaigners have welcomed HSBC’s new lending rules and its clear change in its environmental stance...

Electric vehicles are taking the world by storm and are being dubbed the key to securing a clean future for the planet. The cars are powered by batteries rather than traditional engines and therefore do not require petrol. This reduces the global oil demand and moves our economies away from a dependence on fossil fuels, which are known to produce carbon emissions and contribute to global warming. Since the Paris Climate Agreement, virtually the whole world has been examining ways in which it can reduce its carbon emissions and implement new, clean technologies to drive the planet towards a green future. Electric vehicles were supposed to be part of the answer to the question: “how do we combat climate change”. However, these miracle vehicles may not be the perfect solution we once thought them to be. Scientists at IDTechEx have recently released a report that shows a negative side to electric vehicles. It appears, from this report, that the electronic equipment and batter...