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...
Lack of Posting
You may have noticed that I have not been posting to this website very frequently for the last couple of weeks. During this time I have been working very hard at my day job launching a redesigned website. Working 12+ hour days for the last couple of weeks has put a toll on my free time. But I'm glad to say that we launched the new site yesterday and I should be able to pick backup again soon. For those of you interested, here is a link to the new site that has taken all of my time....
Alt Energy Investment Opportunities In The Ag Sector: Intro
I just got back from Growing the Margins, a conference and trade show focused on the bio-mass/gas/energy/products sectors with a focus on the farm and food industries. These are not sectors I have traditionally paid a great deal of attention to, despite the fact that there are very interesting things happening in both. The most notable contribution to alt energy from farm industry over the past five years has been corn ethanol, an enterprise I have long believed to be economically and environmentally unsustainable. To be sure, ethanol, but especially second-generation ethanol, got a fair...
ChangeWave Research Alternative Energy Trends Report
As promised earlier this week, I have been given permission to post the abstract of the ChangeWave Research Alternative Energy Trends report. I work for the publishing company that produces the ChangeWave services and have been involved with ChangeWave from the beginning. I am also an Alliance member. The ChangeWave Alliance is a group of about 5,000 industry insiders and professionals that are regularly surveyed to track economic and investment trends in various sectors of the market. You can learn more about ChangeWave at their newly redesigned website. If you are currently an alternative energy professional and want...
Making Graphene Powder
The largest producer of graphene material in Canada is NanoXplore, Inc. (GRA: TSX-V) with its patented technology to produce graphene powders. The company has capacity to produce 25 metric tons per year in a facility that could be modified to 70 metric tons per year.
Early on the company got a boost from Canada’s government with a CA$3.3 million project to reduce the footprint of electric-motor-driven systems using graphene-enhanced engineering plastics. The project was aimed at support development and adoption of electric vehicles.
At the beginning of 2019, NanoXplore raised US$31 million in new capital through a private placement of debt to a group of institutional...
Princeton’s Plasma Physics Laboratory to lead U.S. fusion research project
The U.S. Department of Energy chose Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory to lead the United States' participation in an international fusion energy project known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). "We wanted to do it because it gives us an intellectual role in planning this experiment and making sure it succeeds," said Robert Goldston GS '77, director of the plasma physics lab. "This is very important for the future of fusion energy." In what Goldston described as an "amazing step" towards the development of nuclear fusion, ITER aims to construct the first device capable of producing self-sustaining...
Updates to “should I invest now?”
The more you search, the more you find. Actually right now everyone is asking the question, should I be investing in alternative energy stocks? This is because of the renewed level of intrest brought on by higher gas prices and additional external forces like Katrina and Rita. As I stated in the past, you need to be careful during times like these. If your a trader, than feel free to play as much as you want. MarketWatch had an article yesterday where they interview Rob Wilder the creator of the WilderHill Clean Energy index. Fuel to...
My Stock Picks for 2005
At my real job, a group of us have a yearly stock picking contest. Some years I have performed well, others have been terrible (last year my total performance for my picks was a miserable -13%.) The winner of 2004 was up over 50%. Her method, spread out the newspaper, take 3 M&M candies and throw them up in the air. She picked the 3 stocks the candies landed on. The rules of our little contest are simple. Pick three stocks that trade for over $5. We buy at the close on the first trading day of the...
Revolutionary Alternative Energy TechnologyPart One:Anti-Matter
James over at the Alternative Energy blog has started a new series of reports based on the next generation of alternative energy solutions. His first edition discusses Anti-Matter.
Graphene-Based Materials
The previous post “Miracle Material” acknowledged the fallout of many of the companies that a decade ago had set out to commercialize that extraordinary form of carbon called graphene. It is a single atom thick but is a couple hundred times stronger than steel, showing promise for an ultra-lightweight material that could unprecedented performance. Unfortunately, developers found out carbon atoms do not behave as well in a production process as they might on a scientist’s laboratory bench. There are several companies that with perseverance and tenacity have been successful in bringing graphene into our lives.
Off the Bench
Haydale Graphene Industries (HAYD: LSE) offers a mix...
Six Tips for CFA Candidates
I just finished the third (of three) Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams. I believe I passed, (results will not be available until September.) I've taken more than my share of tests in my life, and these three exams have been the three hardest. I decided to publish my advice for others becoming CFA Candidates because 1) my partner at Alternative Energy Stocks, Charles Morand has just become a CFA Candidate (he'll take the first exam in December), and 2) there is little advice available online. VI. Buy two of your chosen model of calculator The reason for this is...
An X-Prize for Alternative Energy?
I read several financial sites and feeds throughout the day and I have an entire section devoted to various stock blogs in my Bloglines feed reader account. A post on Andrew Tobias's website today really caught my attention where he was talking about his $100,000 “idea� contest. In response to the $100,000 “idea� contest, Alan Q writes: “Here’s mine and it’s a damn fine idea. Building on the success of the X Prize in reusable spacecraft: Expand government funded X Prizes in areas where innovation is vital to the nation's economic future and national security. For...
Wells Fargo Publishes Report on Alternative Energy Investing
Joel Makower points to a special report published by Wells Fargo Private Client Services "Identifying the Opportunities in Alternative Energy" (PDF.) It is a good primer on alternative energy resources (hydro, wind, solar, hydrogen, biomass, and yes nuclear), along with an analysis of their respective advantages, disadvantages, and outlooks.
Water Gleaner Stocks: Value In Sludge
by Debra Fiakas CFA There are well over 3,000 companies around the world that are involved in some element of wastewater treatment, providing a broad mix of technology, equipment or engineering services to generators and collectors of fouled water. A small group in this wide field is gaining visibility - the ‘water gleaners.’ Like the peasant women picking up stray grains of wheat left behind in the empty field of Millets famous painting, some see value in effluents, sewage and run-off. In this post we look at three small-companies with novel technologies to harvest water. New Sky...
How to Build Your Sustainable Portfolio
Rona Fried at SustainableBusiness.com has written a good article on how to get started on building a Green portfolio.
Hasbro: Super Heroes Go ‘Green’
Captain Marvel will arrive in a plant-based box if toy manufacturer Hasbro, Inc. (HAS: NYSE)carries out its plans. A year ago the toy maker pledged to use plant-based PET (polythylene terephthalate) or BioPET for at least 30% of the blister packs and plastic windows used to ship and display everyone’s favorite super heroes. This is not the first of Hasbro’s attempts at more responsible packaging. By 2015, the company was using recycled and sustainably sourced paper for 90% of its packaging and in-box content. Additionally, by 2016, Hasbro had already begun using recycled PET, eliminating the use of additional fossil fuels and removing plastic...
