The Alliance has developed a new metric to evaluate bond investments in U.S. based energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The metric, CarbonCount®, evaluates the expected reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from each $1,000 of investment. CarbonCount was recently selected by the non-profit initiative Finance for Resilience (FiRe) to present as one of eight finalists at this year's BNEF Summit. 

Combining already available forward-looking project data, sophisticated emissions modeling software and clearly documented assumptions, CarbonCount provides a transparent measure of emissions reductions/offsets per unit of investment that bond buyers can use today to evaluate the carbon impacts of U.S. based energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. By helping investors quantify these impacts, CarbonCount aims to increase financial flows toward — and justify favorable capital pricing for — projects that efficiently deliver climate benefits. 

During the Summit, taking place in New York City from April 13 - 15, the Alliance will not only have the opportunity to present the CarbonCount approach, but will also be able to hear from other thought leaders in clean energy financing. Al Gore, Walter Isaacson, utility heads, government and private-sector financiers and policy makers from around the world will be in attendance. FiRe was launched in 2013 with the purpose of closing the finance gap for clean energy by identifying powerful ideas that promise to increase available capital by at least $1 billion per year. For the second year of the competition, the scope of projects was expanded to cover specific interventions related to energy efficiency, cities and distributed energy. 

Lela Jgerenaia, FiRe project leader, praised this year’s finalists for having “identified key challenges in the global energy market and proposed novel but executable ideas that will provide value to investors and help project developers get access to financing.”

The Summit's live audience will ulitimately determine which four finalists will receive on-going support from FiRe and BNEF. If successful, the Alliance will have the opportunity to work with the top players in the world of energy finance. No matter the results of the final competition, we're hopeful that the attention brought to CarbonCount and other projects will help increase the flow of affordable capital toward energy efficiency.