Slashing Emissions Is a $196 Trillion Opportunity: BNEF Update

(Bloomberg) -- The challenges and opportunities emerging from the global energy transition will be driving the conversation over the next two days at the annual BNEF Summit in New York.

The transition is proving bumpy, even after the US passed landmark climate legislation that promises to supercharge the clean-energy boom. A backlash against renewable energy in Texas threatens to chill solar and wind development in its biggest market. Extreme weather is taking a toll on power grids that increasingly rely on renewables. And some technologies designed to slash emissions, including carbon capture and sequestration, haven’t quite taken off.

Time stamps are New York.

US Manufacturing Subsidies Play Catchup to Others’ Headstart (10:30 a.m.)

While policies that subsidize industries that the White House has deemed critical will help spur domestic production, it’s less certain that manufacturing in the US will be cost-effective, said Nancy Pfund, managing partner at DBL Partners.

It will be difficult to outpace the countries that already dominate these industries, Pfund said during a panel discussion. Adding other costs to US companies, such as child care, will further drive up expenses.

Sarah Ladislaw, senior director for climate and energy for the US National Security Council, said that view doesn’t recognize the long-term benefits of policies aimed at driving structural change.

“It’s going to be a decade-long enterprise,” Ladislaw said. “The point is we have to start.”

Chevron Says Energy Transition Needs Partnerships (9:42 a.m.)

Building clean energy projects is difficult and requires partnerships between fossil fuel firms and new-energy companies, startups and others that wouldn’t have formed in the past, Chevron Corp.’s Chris Powers said.

“It’s really important that we have an open mindset and realize that no one company can do this alone,” said Powers, who’s vice president of carbon capture, utilization and storage.

New World View Needed for Renewables Investing (9:24 a.m.)

A new world view is needed to shape how we act and behave for investing in renewables and building clean energy through 2050, said Jon Moore, chief executive officer of strategic research provider BloombergNEF. Most importantly, the ratio of investment in clean energy to fossil fuels needs to grow quickly.

“Getting to net zero is a $196 trillion investment opportunity,” he told a packed auditorium in Midtown Manhattan. “If we’re going to invest almost $200 trillion by the middle of the century, we have to pick up the pace.”

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