Mixed Greens: FTSE launches new green index

The London FTSE has launched a new index to track the performance of companies whose core business lies in the development and operation of environmental technologies. BusinessGreen reports that the new index is the 21st on the FTSE Environmental Markets Series, and sister to the longest running environmental technology index in the world – the FTSE ET50 index, which was first launched in 1999. To get a berth on the new FTSE ET100, companies will need to derive at least half of their revenue from cleantech sectors, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and waste management, pollution control and environmental support services.

FTSE director David Harris says the market has shifted since the launch of the original ET50 index, when it was dominated by a small number of large renewables companies. “Today it is more diversified with the energy efficiency (31.1%) and water infrastructure and technology (21.7%) sectors representing the largest sector weights of the index.” BusinessGreen reports that the ET100 has already been adopted by UK fund group Jupiter as the benchmark for its Jupiter Ecology Fund. FTSE says the agreement marks a growing trend for asset managers to use indicators more closely aligned to their investment strategies as a way of measuring asset performance.

Charlie Thomas, a fund manager at the Jupiter Ecology Fund, said the launch of the FTSE ET100 Index was a clear sign that environmental investing had come of age. “Given the breadth of our holdings now, compared to 25 years ago when the Fund originally launched, it has become increasingly important to us to have this reflected in a more accurate and relevant index alongside our existing benchmark, the FTSE World Index. For this reason we were very keen to adopt the newly launched FTSE ET100 which so successfully captures the many different types of companies that are now involved in environmental technology.”

In other news…

The Collector Pumpkin Festival might sound like a fairly low-key affair, but the annual calendar highlight for the small NSW town of Collector has this year been transformed into the latest battleground in Australia’s wind energy wars. The Canberra Times reports that Collector resident and plumber, Zoltan Hegyi, increased his sponsorship of the annual festival from $300 to $3500 to snatch the event’s main billing from wind farm and energy company RATCH Australia. The company, formerly known as Transfield, is seeking planning approval for a 63-turbine wind farm on the Cullerin Range between the Hume Highway and the Collector-Gunning Road. “I didn’t like the fact that their signs were everywhere … to me, I would think that other people would get the impression that the locals don’t mind that happening, which is not the case at all,” Hegyi said. The paper reports that Hegyi’s decision to trump the energy company was supported by local resident and anti-wind farm activist Lizzy Granger, who, along with other locals, has decided to use the festival this year as a platform to protest the proposed Collector Wind Farm.

Ceramic Fuel Cells has revealed it is set to raise more than £4 million in funds from UK Investors. The listed fuel cell maker, which on Tuesday released its quarterly cashflow report for March quarter, said it had received in principal commitments from institutional investors in the UK to raise £4.3 million, subject to the finalisation of transaction documents with each of them. In addition to the funds, the company says it expects to receive a further $A5 million in cash from the Australian government around the middle of the year as part of a tax refund scheme. The company reported a net operating cash flow for the quarter of $A6.6 million, around $2 million more than the two previous quarters. The report also pointed to favourable market developments in Europe; the strategic parntership with Alliander in Germany to install up to 600 units in their regional grid; and project approval for the first deployment of BlueGen units in the UK social housing sector.

Chinese EV maker, BYD, is preparing to make electric buses in California as the company – which is  partially owned by warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. – seeks to bolster its visibility in US. Bloomberg reports that the company will open facilities in the US state on May 1 that will assemble electric buses. BYD’s K9 buses can run 155 miles when fully charged, which can take as little as 3 hours, according to the company.

America’s second-largest phone company, Verizon, has announced plans to spend $100 million on solar systems and fuel cells to power 19 of its US facilities. Bloomberg reports that the New York-based company will install the energy generation technology at office buildings, call centers, data centers and other sites in seven states, as part of the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by half by 2020. “We’re focused on how we really move the needle, and it’s going to be through on-site generation,” James Gowen, the company’s chief sustainability officer, said in an interview. “Things like solar and fuel cells are a perfect match for that.”