Crystalline Graphite
ZEN Graphene Solutions (ZEN: TSX-V) recently teamed up with the University of Manchester, seat of the two Nobel Prize-winning scientists who are credited with isolating graphene. ZEN management hopes to work with Manchester on commercialization of graphene for a variety of applications, including concrete, composites, membranes, and sensors.
ZEN’s Albany graphite project is located in southeastern Ontario. In March 2019, the company completed tests on a production process to purify graphite concentrate from its mine. The purified graphite was near 99.8% carbon per gram and will be used as a precursor material for ZEN’s graphene. The company plans to use a chemical exfoliation process to convert...
Producing Graphene Materials
Build up of the graphene materials industry has progressed a bit more slowly than originally expected a decade ago as scientists and engineers peered through their electron microscopes at single atoms of carbon and counted their many attributes. At the time the potential to improve performance in end products like metal alloys and electronics seemed limitless. Unfortunately, reality has not imitated early dreams. Those companies that have brought graphene to the commercial market will attest to the challenges of jumping off the laboratory bench and into a factory.
Even more frustrating is the sourcing of graphene to use in research, product development and...
Book Review: Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World (Wind + Solar)
Charles Morand Tom and I recently received complimentary copies of a new book called "Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World", edited FTSE Group's Director of Responsible Investment Will Oulton*. The book is a compendium of articles by 31 different authors broken down into three main categories: (1) environmental and low-carbon technologies; (2) investment approaches, products and markets; and (3) regulation, incentives, investor and company case studies. While Tom will provide a comprehensive review of the book once he's finished reading it in its entirety, I will instead review a few selected chapters over...
AltEnergyStocks.com Endorses Barack Obama in the U.S. Presidential Race
With about a month to go to the 2008 presidential election campaign, and after two presidential and one vice-presidential debates, we have heard enough from both tickets on the issue of energy to make up our mind on an official endorsement, an issue we do not take lightly. John McCain's and Barack Obama's stances on energy can seem very similar to the casual observer. Both candidates support a cap on carbon emissions, and both tend to argue for "All of the Above" when asked about specific forms of energy. But there are key differences: 1....
Water Treatment Stocks
by Debra Fiakas CFA In a game of word association many investors might respond Veolia Environmental SA (VIE: P or VEOEY: OTC/PK) at the mention ‘water reclamation.’ General Electric (GE: NYSE) and Siemens (SIE: DE or SIEGY: OTC/PK) might be next choices. These three companies have been ‘go to’ sources for water treatment by municipalities and industry. Indeed, it may take a behemoth to address water issues. In January 2015, the World Economic Forum declared water as the number one crisis impacting the world, recognizing the dire circumstances of water supplies. Over 660 million people - one...
Does The Beyond Meat IPO Spell The End Of The Cow?
by Jim Lane
It’s Thanksgiving week in the United States but we are feasting alternatively on acronyms here in Digestville. I.E., e.g., ICYMI, BYND IPO PDQ, and FYI Perfect Day AKA Muufri JDA w/ ADM.
As they said at Bletchley Park, let’s get out the Enigma machine and decode.
In New York and California this week, the nutrition side of industrial biotechnology — and specifically, the “beyond the cow moovement is, ahem, mooving faster with news that Beyond Meat has filed for its IPO and Perfect Day has inked a Joint Development Agreement with Archer Daniels Midland(ADM) to scale up the production of dairy proteins using fermentation...
Graphene Oxides
Oxides
Grafoid, Inc. has been toiling since 2011 to solve the challenges of scaling graphene production. The company recently launched a new product group of oxidized graphene material that is being marketed under the brand name GNOX. The GNOX innovation follows three other product groups of gels, solvents and dispersed graphene material. Grafoid touts its capacity to produce graphene of high purity and consistency.
Privately-held Grafoid is a spin out of Focus Graphite (FMS: TSX.V). Focus Graphite still owns significant interest in Grafoid so investors could consider FMS shares as a proxy for a stake in Grafoid. For all practical purposes the two companies are operated as one entity as they share...
Nestlé: Going Green Swiss Style
As a Peace Corps volunteer on islands in Micronesia it was a delightful to adopt the islanders’ use of banana leaves for everything from baking a sweet potato to serving a picnic lunch to storing leftovers. The giant banana trees in the garden were so convenient. Moreover, the banana leaf could not be beat for environmental friendliness. Once used, the leaves were tossed aside to become mulch for the garden.
Of course, back in the U.S.A. it is not practical to rely on banana leaves to wrap a Big Mac at MacDonald’s or ship electronics from Amazon.com. Nonetheless, there must be something better than...
Skin In The Game
Specialty retailers are also joining the packaging revolution. REN Clean Skincare is a good example of a retailer that is making environmentally-friendly packaging part of its offering. The company kicked off the campaign with a splashing Earth Day celebration featuring its new partner, the Surfrider Foundation. The campaign was aimed at making REN customers aware of the need to conserve water and keep beaches clean and plastic-free.
The company is selling some of its skincare products in bottles made from plastic reclaimed from the ocean. The bottle is part of REN’s Clean to Planet initiative to become a 100% zero waste company by 2021. The bottle...
Book Review: Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World (Geothermal + Efficiency)
Charles Morand Last Thursday, I reviewed two chapters from the recently published book "Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World"*. This post reviews two more. Geothermal Energy Alexander Richter, Glitnir Bank (now Íslandsbanki) Geothermal is one of the most interesting forms of clean power generation there is. As noted by the author, the most convincing argument for geothermal electricity is the fact that it operates at capacity factors in the upper 90s. This makes it the only renewable technology suitable for baseload power with the exception of dam-based (i.e. large-scale) hydro. However, as...
Did You Recieve a Junk Fax that you thought was coming from Alt Energy...
Some companies have send out stock promotion faxes that people think are coming from Alt Energy Stocks. We don't send out any faxes. If another company is using our name, they are they are doing so without our knowledge or permission. If you did receive a fax, please use the following information so that you can report the company. How the FCC Can Help The FCC has taken numerous enforcement actions, including the issuance of citations and fines, against companies for violations and suspected violations of the TCPA’s prohibition against unsolicited faxes. If you...
Producing Graphene Filaments
In March 2019, Graphene 3D Lab (GGG: TSX-V) completed a private placement of 9.4 million units of its common stock and warrants at CA$0.06 per unit to raise CA$525,000 in new capital. The proceeds will be used for working capital and the company begins commercial sales of its graphene conductive filament. The filaments are designed for three-dimensional printing of electronic circuitry, sensor or radio frequency shielding.
The company is under new management that just took the helm in November 2018. Earlier new sales leadership in sales had been added to accelerate market penetration. The team is quick to tell potential customers and investors about its products, but...
Graphene Nanoplatlets
Applied Graphene Materials (AGM: LSE) has developed a process for high-volume production of graphene nanoplatelets or ‘stacks of two-dimensional graphene sheets that can be used in coatings, composites and polymers. The attributes of nanoplatelets are not as impressive as the single layer of carbon atoms that scientists work with on their laboratory benches. However, nanoplatelets ‘play’ better than single atoms, dispersing more easily into other materials. Applied’s management says the promise of graphene is better achieved by being practical in transferring its characteristics to other high value materials.
Applied’s graphene nanoplatelets are used in a range of products: paints, coatings, polymers, composites, thermal pastes, and lubricants. In...
Kroger: Not All That’s Green is Environmentally Friendly
The Kroger Company (KR: NYSE) has been around since the late 1800s. It has developed into a major retailer of a broad range of food products in its supermarkets that also feature specialty sections such as pet centers, electronics, apparel, toys, and pharmacies. Kroger stock is selling at a bargain multiple of 6.6 times trailing earnings. The 2.0% current dividend yield is icing on Kroger’s cake.
Kroger is distinguished among other grocery retailers with its pledge to achieve zero waste. The company is aiming to recycle or reuse at least 90% of its waste. Sustainable product packaging is a central part of its zero waste plan. For example,...
GMOs and Hain Celestial
50 Shades of Green Garvin Jabusch As I've written before, "human economies are still so far from real sustainability that even a highly idealized portfolio of our most sustainable enterprises necessarily falls short. Ultimately, the best any portfolio can do is mirror the reality of the world, and today, still, even the best representatives of sustainability can be found wanting compared to what will be required if we would like to keep society thriving indefinitely." There's no better example of the various conundrums swirling around sustainable economics than GMOs. As one institutional client, Timothy Yee of...
Graphite to Graphene Enhanced Gel Batteries
Saint Jean Carbon, Inc. (SJL: TSX-V) is adding value to its natural graphite resources by integrating forward into the graphene market. The company owns graphite resources in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario, Canada with historic mining track records.
The company is cultivating know-how cultivated for development of battery-grade graphite. Saint Jean can already supply low volumes of finished and semi-prepared anode or cathode materials. The company is developing a prototype for a graphene gel salt water battery that is expected to charge faster and perform longer than conventional batteries. In January 2019, Saint Jean management announced plans to have the battery design ready for sale by...