Fortune: Q&A With Henrik Fisker
In early 2013, Henrik Fisker came to the end of the wildest roller-coaster ride of his career.
Fisker Automotive, the buzzy electric-car company that the designer and entrepreneur founded in 2007, was out of money. To outsiders, it was a shocking concession for a company that had raised a staggering $1.2 billion from public and private funds. But the Anaheim, Calif. company hadn’t produced a car for more than a year after building about 2,500 of its Karma, a luxury plug-in hybrid sports sedan priced at $103,000. And it faced a congressional hearing about the $529 million in financing it received from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Christian Science Monitor: BMW Unveils Car-Sharing Service
In a bid to compete with the growing popularity of Uber and other ride-hailing services, BMW is launching its own car-sharing service in Seattle.
The service, called ReachNow, provides customers with the use of 370 BMW and Mini vehicles which they can use in a number of ways, including as a short-term rental, a delivery service, chauffeur service or a longer-term rental.
"Our customers rightly expect uncomplicated and fast solutions to their individual mobility needs, especially in metropolitan regions," BMW board member Peter Schwarzenbauer told Reuters.
Grist: Hillary Clinton and Climate Activists Don't Really Like Each Other
Hillary Clinton agrees with climate activists that we need to shift our electric grid to run on renewable energy. But she doesn’t agree with some of the more hardcore green groups on how quickly a full switchover can be achieved and what policy steps we should be pursuing to make that happen.
Two main points of dispute stand out: Should the federal government continue to allow fossil fuel extraction on public land in the interim? Clinton says yes, activists say no. And do we need natural gas to serve as a “bridge” fuel between coal and clean energy? Again, Clinton says yes, activists say no.
Bloomberg: Banks Pledge $7 Billion to Scale Up Clean Energy Investment
A group of eight banks and investors pledged $7 billion to join Bank of America Corp’s initiative that plans to raise at least $10 billion for investments in clean energy and sustainable development.
HSBC Holdings Plc, Credit Agricole SA, AllianceBernstein Holding LP, Babson Capital Management LLC and Mirova, a unit of Natixis SA, are among those to join the Catalytic Finance Initiative, according to a joint statement by the banks last week.
Australian Business Review: China’s State Grid Envisions $65 Trillion World Power Network
China’s State Grid already dominates its home market, operating most of the electricity grid that powers the world’s second-largest economy.
Now it has big plans for the world -- a $50 trillion (USD) global power network that harnesses Arctic winds and equatorial sunlight.
State Grid chairman Liu Zhenya outlined his company’s vision late last month, saying a new global electricity network was the world’s best bet for overcoming resource scarcity and limiting the effects of pollution and climate change.