Soros Plans to Invest $1B in Clean Energy Technology

NEW YORK (DTN) -- George Soros, the New York-based billionaire hedge fund manager, plans to invest $1 billion in clean energy technology.

Soros made the announcement on Saturday during a panel discussion on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark, saying his move would be part of an attempt to address the problem of climate change.

Soros spokesman Michael Vachon confirmed those plans to Telvent DTN this morning. Soros also plans to donate $100 million to an environmental advisory group to aid policymakers.

Soros, the founder of hedge fund Soros Fund Management LLC, is well known for his support of liberal causes at home and in Eastern Europe.

However, Soros said he would apply stringent criteria to his clean energy investments. He said those investments should be profitable as well as contributing to solving the problem of climate change.

Soros' money would be one of the largest investments from an individual going into clean energy, which has seen a slowdown in capital inflows over the past year.

New Energy Finance, a research firm in London, says that global investment in renewable energy technology totaled $25.9 billion in the third quarter, 22 percent below the same quarter in 2008. The total includes venture capital, private equity, public equity, asset finance, bonds and corporate debt.