Monthly Archives: November 2009

Market Heats Up for Disruption-Resistant SuperconductorsBy Joyce Pellino CraneWhen electrical transmission cables and tree branches glisten in brilliant sunlight, drop your camera and run to the nearest hardware store for a generator. I learned this hard lesson in December after an ice storm left downed wires, branches and debris throughout several counties northwest of Boston and across six other northeastern states, leaving one million without electricity, some for as long as two weeks. It will be a long time before I forget what it’s like to wrap holiday presents by a smoky fire with gloves on. American Superconductor’s (AMSC:...

Tom Konrad, Ph.D. I've been writing for AltEnergyStocks for over two years now, but it has not always been about stock market investing.  Often, it is about my other passion, energy policy and economics.  While this can inform stock market investing, I have come to believe that many people who come to a site called AltEnergyStocks, are probably more interested in investing-focused fare. Because of this, I've been writing less about policy and economics than I would if I were writing for a more policy- or economics-focused blog.  Since I'm not about to give up my either my interest...

Tom Konrad CFA Investing in green energy can be good for both the climate and your wallet.  How good depends on choosing the right investment vehicles (mutual funds, ETFs, or stocks) and sectors to invest in. This will get you started. More and more investors are investing in green energy.  According to the Cleantech Group, the Cleantech sector is now the largest sector for venture capital investment.   Green Energy is not just for venture capitalists.  Small investors have done well in 2009.  Since the market bottomed at the start of March, the average green energy mutual fund topped...

RuggedCom Fortifies the Smart Grid and Captures the Substation Market By Joyce Pellino Crane     I wonder how many utility executives lie awake at night worrying  about cyberthreats to their electricity substations.     If you’ve ever gone a few days without electricity in your home,  you’ll quickly realize how minimal life becomes.  Working on your computerthe speedway to higher thinking and creativity is impossible.     Watching television, charging your cell phone, keeping food frozen, and  micro-waving popcorn, can no longer be done. Every task requires  planning and, much more physical laborconsider what it would take  to wash and...

Is There a Crack in the (Fire)Wall? Joyce Pellino Crane Last December when 325,000 Massachusetts homes went dark for days on end, I finally understood the transformative powers of electricity. For starters, my hair went limp when the blow dryer didn't turn on, my laundry piled high, my food froze in the garage, and my stove was stone cold. After five days of living like Pioneer Woman, I got tired of waiting for the utility company to restring snapped cable wires, and checked into a hotel. The nation's electric power grid is a hodgepodge of...

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA I first met David Gold when he agreed (at the last minute) to sit on a lunchtime panel about Financing Renewable Energy I organized for the Colorado CFA Society in April. When he emailed an announcement in September that he was starting Green Gold Blog, I immediately signed up, because I expected he'd have something interesting to say.   I also know that what's relevant for Venture Capitalists is often relevant for public investors.  For instance, doesn't his recent article on VC cleantech investment trends have some almost eerie similarities to my article about why...

David Gold Sectors like solar, biofuels and smart grid have received a significant overweighting of venture capital investment compared to other sectors. Is this because they are better investment opportunities or because venture capitalists (VCs), being human, invest in what they know and who they know? While many entrepreneurs may not believe it, VCs are human, too. In my last post, “Human Capital, Not Venture Capital, the Biggest Cleantech Need,” I discussed how the greatest challenge today to growing a successful early-stage cleantech business is the shortage of successful, experienced cleantech entrepreneurs. But finding the right...

David Gold Building great businesses typically requires three key ingredients: phenomenal people, compelling technology and investment capital. Cleantech companies are no exception. While cleantech venture capital investments have expanded rapidly, averaging an annual growth rate of 65% over the past five years and now representing over 15% of all venture investments, the compelling technologies are mostly early in their development cycles and the human eco-system for early stage cleantech companies is in its infancy. There is much buzz about the venture capital and government funding that is being invested in cleantech companies,...