The Suits Are Flocking to Renewables
Investors like the ‘predictability’ of clean energy.
But the 350-odd delegates to the first Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum made it clear last week that revolution is decidedly their goal. They intend, by every means possible, to consign fossil fuels to the dustbin of history. And much, much sooner than most people are prepared to expect.
This is not journalistic interpretation or a suggestion from the most optimistic and least powerful delegates, idling on the side of the room. Ross Beaty, founder and still chair of the second-largest silver mining company in the world (Pan American Silver Corp.), and one of the conference’s main sponsors, said it plainly halfway through the first day: “It’s a revolution.”
The “it” in question is the corporate swing from non-renewable fuel sources like coal and oil to the alternatives that Beaty now makes available through his most recent venture, Alterra Power, a mid-sized renewable energy company with solar, wind, hydro and geothermal operations in B.C., Ontario and Iceland.
In a panel discussion, in answer to a question about ethical divestment of fossil fuels, Beaty said, “It’s almost irrelevant. Coal, especially, is a dinosaur industry. It’s going out of busines …. It’s just a bad industry to invest in, whether you divest for ethical reasons or not.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
