Graphene, Miracle Material
In 2010, when two physicists, Andre Greim and Konstantin Novoselov, won the Nobel Prize for Physics to recognize their work with carbon atoms, there were over 3,000 different companies with ongoing projects to develop commercial materials using their ‘graphene’ breakthrough. With its hexagon structure of individual carbon atoms, graphene was expected to find applications in so many products, from semiconductors to turbine blades to car tires. That is because this ‘miracle material’ is the strongest known to man. Yes, even stronger than its carbon cousin the diamond. Nine years later most of the throng has fallen by the wayside.
Nonetheless, graphene is no bust. At...
What John Kenneth Galbraith Would Have Said About the Credit Crunch
John Kenneth Galbraith, renowned economist and author of the bestselling The Great Crash, 1929, died in 2006, and so he never saw the crash of 2008. But he would not have been surprised. I just finished reading his A Short History of Financial Euphoria: Financial Genius is Before the Fall, a treatise on bubbles and busts of history, starting with the Dutch Tulip Bubble of 1637 and ending with the crash of 1987. The book was written in 1989, but the message is still timely today. Galbraith draws out the common factors of all financial...
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...
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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...
Iluminated LED Bathtub
This has nothing to do with energy efficiency or anything else pertaining to this website. But while doing some additional research on LED's this morning I stumbled onto this amazing use of LED technology. These are manufactured by Generate and they have several LED based products for the home. (Thanks to Strange New Products)
Guinness Atkinson Set To Launch Alternative Energy Mutual Fund
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management, Inc., announced the upcoming launch of the no-load Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund, which will invest in companies involved in the production, distribution or storage of alternative energy, including energy conservation. The fund is designed as a vehicle for investors seeking to profit from and participate in the shift from conventional fuels to alternative energy sources. The fund will invest primarily in companies that produce 50 percent or more of revenues from alternative energy and will be managed with an emphasis on value. Lead manager of the fund will be Tim Guinness,...
Investing In Water Desalination
By Jeff Siegel The million-dollar manicured lawns of Montecito, CA have withered, died, and gone to seed. The polo fields are little more than dust now, and many have traded the good china for paper plates so as to avoid using the dishwasher. There’s no doubt about it Mother Nature doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, black or white, fat or skinny. When she lays the smack down, we all feel it. And there is no better example of this than the debilitating drought that’s wringing the Golden State dry. Of course, for those who can afford...
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 Quality Stocks
by Debra Fiakas CFA Pipes, pumps and values are only part of the drinking water story we began telling last week. The Ecological Society of America estimates that the U.S. spends more than $2 billion annually on clean water projects in an attempt to prevent pollution and clean contaminated water. Water quality is a diverse market, beginning with projects to promote natural ecosystems which are the ultimate ‘water filter.’ The market extends to water treatment facilities, filtration systems and purification technologies among other solutions to ensure that our drinking water is safe. The market for water quality...
Links & Blogrolls
Altenergystocks.com frequently receives requests to provide links to other websites and/or to join services where several blogs are featured together in one platform (see an example here). As our regular readers have probably noted, our blog rolls (Tom's and mine) are not especially extensive. We thought at this point that it might make sense to let our readers know how we go about selecting sites for inclusion in our blog rolls and what our policy is with regards to giving out links to other sites. Blog Roll Our approach to adding links to our blog rolls...
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...
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.
Vacation, Updated Graphs, and 2 Conferences
Vacation and Meet Me at the Colorado Renewable Energy Conference or the International Peak Oil Conference. Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA I'm on vacation this week, so I'm going to leave you with a preview from a presentation I will be giving at the Colorado Renewable Energy Conference on Aug 29 in Golden Colorado. I'm updating my Investing in Renewable Energy presentations, and I've been able to incorporate a lot of the work Charles and I did on clean energy mutual funds and ETFs since January this year. ETF Holdings Revealed Charles did some in-depth work...
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...
AltEnergy ETF Shares to start trading on Feb 4.
The new Alternative Energy ETF, which will be managed by PowerShares Capital Management, will track the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, a benchmark calculated by the Amex that was launched in August. The Amex collaborated with index provider WilderShares, LLC in developing the index. It will start trading on the AMEX on February 4th. The index contains 37 companies that use greener and renewable energy alternatives such as wind, solar, and hydrogen fuel cells. I'm searching for a ticker and will post it once I can find it. Post a comment if you find it before I do.
