The strong increase in investments over the second quarter of 2010 can be mainly attributed to the increase in buyouts during the same period of time. Compared to last quarter, buyouts were up 8%, with mid-market deals leading the way with an increase of 21%.

There was also a rise in the number of companies that were financed. The number of financed start-ups increased by 17%, while later-stage companies did even better, registering a 28% increase from the last quarter.

However, the fund raising side shows a much different picture. Here we see a decline in fund commitments to almost all types of funds. Private equity funds in Europe went down by 36% compared to Q1, while the commitment to venture funds even dropped by 66%. Growth capital funds and buyout funds also experienced a downturn. Mezzanine funds on the other hand increased to their highest level since the second quarter of 2007.

He argues that such a tax would decrease the international competitiveness of the industry. In recent months prices for natural resources have already increased by large margins, thus a further tax would be detrimental for the current state of economic recovery.

The German ministry for economics and technology thus want to promote a system of positive market incentives. Thus, a holistic strategy for natural resources that addresses both fair international resource trade and the exploitation of domestic resources would make sense.

China is responsible for nearly three quarter of all the IPO proceeds worldwide in the cleantech sector. The top three companies in this category in 2010 are all Chinese companies. China also holds a monopoly (97% of all commercially available) on the rare earth elements (REEs), which are crucial for wind turbines and electric motors. The Chinese government is also making much quicker decisions regarding clean technology. It took a minimal amount of time to approve and sign plans to build a 2 GW solar thermal plant that will cost around 5 billion USD.

If you are interested in reading about the other factors, which indicate that China is seizing world-wide supremacy in the field of cleantech, please go to http://bit.ly/cKsLIz.

The main shift occurs in the type of companies VCs are looking for at the moment. E-commerce and professional services seem to no longer be of interest, which seems odd in light of the success companies such as facebook and twitter have had. The focus has now rather shifted towards companies offering Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud computing and data management.

If you would like to know more about the state of venture capital, please visit: http://bit.ly/aeKcs3

The study looked at 3000 companies that closed down between 2006 and 2009. Almost three quarter of these companies at some stage were making a profit, which goes to show, that the study did not only analyze companies without a marketable business model.

The study found out that the main reason why startups do not make it, is that there was insufficient seed capital. Further reasons can be found in unexpected market changes and strategic miscalculations. Thus, companies should make sure they have enough money to sustain their startup and they should be flexible so they can adapt to any market changes.

The Full Study can be found here (only in German): http://bit.ly/9pC6qR

Currently the main means to gain energy from this great storage under ground is to drill holes into the rock to access the hot water and steam that naturally rises up. The hot water can then be used to power electric generators and once it cools off it will be pumped back under ground and can reheat.

With geothermal energy you don’t have the same fluctuations as is the case with solar and wind energy. Furthermore, it is clean, as no greenhouse gases are produced in the process and it is renewable, as the water is reused. In the US, President Obama gave 350 billion USD to geothermal projects last year.

There are a few different concepts at the moment. Most plants will be situated at the edges of tectonic plates, where geothermal activity is high. However, more recently companies have starting drilling deep into rocks and pumping cold water down to create steam. However, there is the fear that this second method might cause seismic activity, which could lead to earthquakes.

If you would like further information on geothermal energy, please visit http://bit.ly/9JJ7pQ

You can find the full article by Fred Destin here: http://bit.ly/czUXrQ.

Everyone at the conference has agreed that the issue of renewable energy is extremely important and many proposed a doubling of investments in clean technologies, but no actual financial commitments were made. These meetings will now be held on an annual basis, the next one scheduled for the United Arab Emirates and the 2012 meeting is set to take place in the United Kingdom.

One important initiative created at the meeting was the Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Action Group. This group aims to establish infrastructure around the world for carbon-capture-and-storage (CCS) by 2020. Germany will be a part of this initiative, as well as the following three other: the Electric Vehicle Initiative, the super-efficient equipment and appliance deployment initiative and it will head the Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group, together with Denmark.

If you would like more information about the meeting and the initiatives, you can read the following article: http://nyti.ms/aMEgVd

For a more detailed account please see http://bit.ly/d99jDF

Such unified standards will allow electronic cars to cross borders without major complications. Some of the most important points of discussion are standardized plugs, battery standards and general safety standards.