The Daily Five: Saturday, 20 September, 2008

The Week in Cleantech, Saturday Edition: Wall Street’s rocky week spells trouble for green startups; and expect gasoline prices to stay high a few more weeks.

Credit crisis hurting clean energy sector - bankers: Investors at a renewable energy conference in London are trying to get a handle on the implications of Monday’s Wall Street meltdown. At first blush, the tightening of credit doesn’t look good for CleanTech. Europe, for instance, has set some fairly ambitious goals for renewable energy. But a slowdown in long-term lending will make those benchmarks difficult to achieve. A Rabobank spokesperson told Reuters that the CleanTech sector will have to look for new sources of funding, such as investment by pension funds or other areas of bank finance. (Reuters)

Implications of a Ten Day Refinery Outage: High gasoline prices and worsening fuel shortages are likely to continue well into October. The problem? Thanks to a previous shutdown for Hurricane Gustav, gasoline stocks were already low before this weekend’s strike by Hurricane Ike. Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest conduits or refined petroleum products in the Southeast, has already been closed due to insufficient stocks. According to AAA, gasoline prices spiked about 20 cents per gallon over the weekend, up to a national average of $3.80. Some areas reported spot prices in excess of $5 per gallon. (The Oil Drum)

Energy Star Standards Lax: Consumer Reports: An article in the October issue of Consumer Reports takes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to task for failing to maintain Energy Star specifications and testing procedures. The consumer advocacy magazine says it’s time for third party verification of Energy Star claims. Consumer Reports independently tested several Energy Star-certified products and found that many failed to meet their stated efficiency claims. (GreenBiz.com)

GM to build their own batteries, seeks new employee: It appears that General Motors plans to get into the lithium ion battery business. Autoblog Green notes a job ad on the LinkedIn website seeking a battery project manager. The idea of GM building its own batteries certainly makes sense: the company has long said the Volt powertrain would find its way into a variety of other models. Producing its own lithium ion batteries would control costs and remove GM’s dependence on foreign suppliers. (Autoblog Green)

Ford Paces New Hybrid Model Rollouts: Ford Motor Company executive Ford executive David Finnegan say there are plug-in hybrids in his company’s future — but not just yet. Finnegan told the Denver Post last week that before Ford jumps into hybrids, it wants to see consumer support and the prospect of strong sales. He says the first Ford plug-ins would come no earlier than 2013, and that fully electric cars aren’t likely until sometime after 2020. (Denver Post)

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