private sector participation is critical but is society wiiling and able to pay for that? The funds for renewable energy deployment is a major challenge across board(developed and developing)

Thank you both for your input.

The issue I have found with private sector investment is that the returns are not big or fast enough for company's to think that they are a profitable investment. They only seem to think about immediate, profitable return schemes, no matter how damaging they are - like Shell wanting to drill in the Arctic for oil. This is despite the fact that if something is not done soon then it may be too late, however everything in society seems to run on short term plans. I understand that this is because of short term governmental power, and anything long term risks being abandoned by the next party, but should it really be this way?

You're right David, tax payers shouldn't have to be the ones to pay for it all, but what else can be done?

International and European funding schemes have so many strings attached that it is practically impossible for small businesses to get anything unless they fit every criteria, no matter how promising their project.

Is this how society wishes to have its future? Dominated by short term, corrupted schemes where anything with little potential or too little returns, despite the cause being for the greater good, are cast aside? Something in policy needs to change, that's for sure.

Private sector certainly invests in “Renewable Technologies” almost all, is as a results of some private company looking at new ways of providing energy. Perhaps in the first instance it was driven by military or space exploration requirements, but these eventually were allowed to be used by ordinary people (for profit).

NIMBY for those that may not know is, Not In My Back Yard.

Yes wind turbines are generating electricity and yes they are really not as ugly as all that, but the objections are not only aesthetic, but there are also matters of noise, flicker, bird and bat strikes. It is not only the wind turbines, some are also objecting about the wave & tidal energy generation projects. The electricity pylons can be made aesthetic as well, just look-up the competition for the new pylons, the shortlisted entries were not that ugly, slingshot V, couple holding hands as well as the double bow. But getting back to the discussion, society responds to the deployment of the renewable energy, just look how many PV installations were thrown-up on the roofs (FITs (Feed-in-Tariffs) did help, especially in the early days, profit again) now it is only the large installations that can justify the incentives. Wind energy is not bad, it is intermittent and because of that it is often seen as something that is not reliable and therefore not desirable. The same can be said for PV, surprising unreliability especially at night!

Generally the businesses are not benevolent, nowadays they require profit to survive. Often enough new ideas are set aside until there is the technology to develop them, when flying and rocket launches will become too expensive, someone will eventually complete the “transporter” as per The Fly or Star Trek.

Attach something to do with carbon reduction to a project and it becomes better fundable.

https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.426553.de/dp1318.pdf