Singapore financial firms should bank on renewable energy

"COAL is dead," declared Jim Barry, the global head of BlackRock's infrastructure investment group, in a recent interview with Australia Financial Review.

While US President Donald Trump and other ideologues may disagree, it is always wise to watch the money. This stark analysis coming from the world's largest investment group with US$5 trillion in assets under management will thus reverberate around the world.

The previous mentality around renewable energy was that it was expensive and "all about subsidies". This has now been turned on its head as prices, particularly in solar energy, have fallen, Mr Barry said.