Grassroots funding boosts green energy projects in Japan

Published: Aug. 20, 2017, 12:40 p.m.

b'Local communities in Japan are taking sustainable energy into their own hands, with small investors backing wind and solar projects instead of waiting for the government to act. Hometown investment trust funds are using the Internet to tap local investors for 100 dollars to 5,000 dollars to fund projects where they live.\\n\\nBanks are reluctant to finance renewable energy projects, deeming them too risky. Alternative financing vehicles are supporting growth in risky sectors in Asia. Hometown investment trust funds have spread from Japan to Cambodia, Mongolia, Peru, and Viet Nam, and are also attracting attention from the government of Thailand and Malaysia\\u2019s central bank.\\n\\nRead the transcript\\nhttp://bit.ly/2xa9H3Z\\n\\nRead the blog post\\nhttps://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/04/hometown-investment-trust-funds-a-sustainable-solution-for-financing-green-energy-projects/\\n\\nAuthors\\nNaoyuki Yoshino, dean, ADBI\\nhttps://www.adb.org/adbi/about/dean \\n\\nFarhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, assistant economics professor at Keio University, Tokyo\\nhttps://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/author/farhad-taghizadeh-hesary/ \\n\\nKnow more about ADBI\\u2019s work on hometown investment trust funds\\nhttp://bit.ly/2vO13J0'