Rewind to 2020, five years on from the landmark Paris Agreement to combat climate change, and aside from the pandemic the big stories in markets were the ?climate emergency? and the ?energy transition?.Although the Glasgow COP26 conference had to be postponed until 2021 due to Covid, there was no shortage of high-profile events from Manchester?s virtual four-day Green Summit to the WEF (World Econ

The future of wind-powered energy in the UK looks uncertain after the recent failure of the Government's offshore wind auction to attract a single bidder and a rolling back of net zero targets.However, as this author's recent visit to the official opening of the Cumberhead wind farm in Scotland shows, there are still projects being developed onshore as the country looks to transition away from fos

Despite recent record power prices, renewable energy-focused investment trusts are now largely trading at material discounts to net asset value. That's created some good buying opportunities in this space, particularly as many of the trusts have historically traded at a premium.Over the long term there is a clear catalyst for growth in renewable energy given global governments have set ambitious t

One reason why Europe is facing an energy crisis is that renewables power generation fell short of expectations after a summer which was neither sufficiently windy nor sunny.While this reveals one of the limitations of solar and wind power and has provided a reminder of the continuing role of natural gas, among other traditional sources of energy, it also shows the need for further investment to b

Renewable energy funds and investment trusts have rapidly gained in popularity in the last few years as investors look to do good with their money while also making a return on their investment.But it's important to note that for all the talk about the growth in renewable energy and the 'opportunities' available in the sector, the share price returns from trusts and funds with generating assets in

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATUREWe consider gold - with its unique behavioural traits - to be an important building block to consider for any portfolio. The metal can behave defensively which is typically very beneficial in times of economic shocks and the metal also tends to respond well to inflation which can be beneficial in times of economic growth. Like any core component of a portfolio, we mus

Wind and solar assets investor Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) reported a 'very strong' total shareholder return for the seven and a half months since its incorporation in mid-October, even after the pandemic-induced economic slump drove a material fall in power prices.Furthermore, ORIT insisted it is pursuing a renewable energy assets pipeline of 'around £3.8 billion' and assured

UK markets began trading very slowly on what will be a US-free Friday session because of the Independence Day holiday, with company news typically light on the ground.This followed a firm rally for Asian shares overnight on robust US payrolls data and a brisk pickup in Chinese service sector activity, but a surge in coronavirus cases in the United States kept a lid on stronger gains.But the gloom