How to Scale Up Demand for US Clean Energy and Green Bonds

Joshua Humphreys, David Roswell, Rob Sanders

Contributors:
Fern Jones, Lew Milford, Kyle Onda

December 2014

This report, co-written by the Clean Energy Group, culminates a year-long inquiry into investors’ appetites for clean energy bond finance, with an eye toward growing the market.

Clean energy bonds are very similar to traditional fixed-income products, but are used to finance renewable energy generation and energy conservation. This makes them an important piece of a sustainable and responsible portfolio, and also a powerful tool to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.

The study found that there is high demand for domestic clean energy bonds, and that demand is heterogeneous between different investor types. The specific considerations for various investors are discussed in detail. The paper closes with an action plan for increasing deal-flow to clean energy projects.