Starfish Focuses on Energy Efficiency Without Carbon Price

Starfish Ventures, Australia’s biggest venture capital fund, plans to invest in businesses focused on energy efficiency and avoid solar and wave power until a carbon price makes the technologies more attractive.

“It’s a good sector because it’s not dependent on a carbon price, so we don’t have to worry about the uncertainty that it brings,” Ivor Frischknecht, investment director at Starfish Ventures, said in an interview in Sydney. “Solar long-term is a really good space. Wave power and geothermal too. All of those depend dramatically on a carbon price, so you’re just not going to get any movement from people like us.”