On Sunday, Jim Fraser at Energy Blog reported a claim by Sungri that it can produce 5-7 cents per kWh CSP. This is quite the claim, and if true, would represent nothing short of big bang for the solar space. Nevertheless, I remain wholly unconvinced.

On Sunday, John Laumer at TreeHugger told us that Waste Management was going to fuel Altamont (CA) area trucks with landfill-harvested liquid natural gas. Landfill gas (LFG) can be used for both power generation and for liquid fuel production. I did a bit of research into this a few months ago and, with the right kind of incentive, LFG could become a valuable asset for firms and municipalities with the right to it. This is an area to keep an eye on.

On Tuesday, Jozef Winter at ecogeek discussed Xcel Energy's announcement of a $100 million investment for 'Smart Grid' initiatives. This is good news for the energy efficiency space, especially as smart grid/efficiency stocks have been struggling over the past while (see COMV and ENOC). I see energy efficiency as a low-hanging fruit with plenty of potential, but unfortunately there aren't sufficient incentives yet to drive massive investments in this space. It is therefore encouraging to see a mainstream utility make a large capital commitment to the concept.

On Friday, Keith Johnson at the WSJ's Environmental Capital wondered why pricey oil wasn't helping cleantech stocks more. Sure, alt energy stocks are decoupled from the price of oil on the upside, but it's still unclear whether this decoupling would hold on the downside. The broader point from this story: alt energy earnings remain volatile and so alt energy stock prices are volatile.

On Friday, Eric Savitz at Barron's Tech Trader Daily told us that Citi sees a solar glut in 2009 and 2010. So the solar-cell makers with low cost structures will get a competitive edge in a situation of general oversupply - no big surprise here. But who will have an edge in consolidating the industry?

Posted by Charles Morand at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday, Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media informed us that LDK's CEO was starting up a thin-film solar firm. Given thin-film's potential and the stock market successes of one thin-film maker in particular, the emergence of competition doesn't come as much of a surprise. And who else to do better than an already-successful solar entrepreneur.

On Wednesday, Craig Rubens at earth2tech featured an interview where the CEO of PG&E painted the future of utilities for us. An interesting interview on the potential and challenges of plug-in hybrids and net metering.

On Wednesday, Scott Krisner at Innovation Economy suggested that battery-maker A123 Systems had signed, sealed but not yet delivered on an IPO. Cleantech investors have been yearning for battery pure-plays for some time, so if this is indeed an accurate report it is sure to draw a lot of attention. The question is, will capital markets be ready for something like this in the fall?

On Thursday, Felicity Barringer and Andrew Ross Sorkin at the NYT told us that a prominent green group was helping an equally-prominent buyout firm becoming greener. KKR certainly raised eyebrows last year when, as part of the TXU deal, it decided to cancel a number of coal power plants on grounds that they represented a potential future liability. This week's announcement will, once again, re-ignite the debate as to whether shareholder value can be created (or at least material risks averted) by managing environmental matters in the same systematic way other areas of the firm such as HR or accounting are handled. PR or good business...what do you think?

In yet another indication that solar is slowly moving toward the mature industry status, Good Clean Tech informed us on Thursday that OptiSolar was planning on building the largest solar farm in the world. 550 MW of PV solar panels is a big deal, and at that scale the economies make the returns on projects like these very attractive.

Posted by Charles Morand at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Michael Kanellos at CNET's Green Tech Blog told us that cellulosic ethanol was to surpass corn...in 14 years. Turns out he got that info from one of the leaders in making enzymes to break down cellulose. So if it takes about 14 years for cellulosic ethanol to scale up production levels to about 15 billion gallons annually, or roughly 10% of current liquid fuel consumption in the US, could there be a risk that cellulosic misses the boat altogether? Most of the estimates thrown out there for the cost of cellulosic to be competitive with corn are in the neighborhood of four to eight years, but once costs come down will the industry be able to scale up fast enough to even stay relevant in the race for alternatives to gasoline?

On Tuesday, Toby Shute at The Motley Fool argued that Google's gigawatt was gaining steam. What gives Google an edge in renewable energy, according to the author? The firm's expertise in scalable solutions. I've never been a big fan of launching into things in which you don't have a competitive advantage or even expertise, so I'm somewhat skeptical of Google's forays into wireless and especially clean power . Nevertheless, the folks at Google can certainly tell a strong business model from a bad one, and I'm sure they know a thing or two about execution. Maybe one day I, too, will be silenced.

On Thursday, Matthew Hougan at Seeking Alpha shone light on solar ETFs. This piece provides a detailed overview of two solar ETFs launched recently. ETFs are a great way to balance concentrated exposure to a sector with a healthy amount of firm-level diversification, at a cost that makes sense for retail investors. For solar, you have the choice: you can go pure play or solar light.

On Thursday, Katie Fehrenbacher at earth2tech asked if PG&E would own solar power plants. The argument made here is interesting, namely that large utilities can leverage their strong balance sheets to acquire cheap capital for the construction of large-scale renewable energy projects like a solar thermal plant. Given the nature of these projects, where there is long-term revenue certainty and costs is where big gains can be realized, the ability to come in with cheap capital can make a notable difference over time. In fact, as the solar industry follows wind and consolidates, there is where you should expect the big players to have a significant advantage.

On Friday, Dan Lewis at AEI wondered whether Brazil's latest oil find would undermine its booming ethanol industry. Broadly speaking, he is wondering whether whatever oil can be found and economically extracted from unconventional sources is enough to put a dent in the current supply-demand imbalance, if indeed there currently is an imbalance, and therefore shift political and investor attention and resources away from the search for alternatives. This is every alt energy company's CEO's greatest fear, as there is no doubt that expensive oil has increased their access to, and lowered their cost of, capital. It has also provided some of the political justification for the generous subsidies alt energy has enjoyed in many jurisdictions. So the question begs asking: given the lengths to which certain governments have gone to promote alt energy, would a sharp drop in the price of oil be as much of a shock to the system today as it may have been five years ago? I think not, although alt energy stocks would take a serious beating for a time.

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week, IMF officials voiced strong concerns over current biofuels policies in the US and Europe. On Friday, the head of the IMF claimed that biofuels posed nothing short of a moral problem for the West, and that he would support a moratorium on biofuels made from foodstuffs. Also on Friday, the IMF's Chief Economist called biofuels "a new form of protectionism" that is "now front and center in global geopolitics." For anyone who's been reading the news over the past month, you can't help but agree with this assessment. With food prices now rising in real terms for the first time in 30 years, humanity faces something it has never experienced in its history: global tightness in food supplies. Under such a scenario, producer nations shut their borders to export to shield their populations from steep agflation, wealthy closed economies like Venezuela or Russia fix prices for foodstuffs and subsidize the difference, and the poorest of the poor get zip. For as long as I have written for this site, I have always claimed that this would be the single largest problem facing corn ethanol in the US - much more so than industry-specific concerns like oversupply. While the current administration can be expected to dig its heels in on this issue, pressure over the past two years has only been increasing and I am doubtful that, in the current context global food shortages and the lack of evidence that ethanol does anything at all to reduce foreign oil dependency, the US and European biofulel industries can expect enduring support from their politicians. The deal they have been getting is much too good to be true, and I expect reality will set in sooner rather than later.

On Tuesday, Ted Nace at Grist told us about the education of Warren Buffett. Interesting piece on how MidAmerican, a Berkshire Hathaway company, abandoned plans to build a number of coal plants. While Buffett typically adopts a hands-off approach with his managers, he does get involved in important capital spending decisions, so you can rest assured he had a say in this. Now for anyone who has been following what's been happening with coal power in the US, it's not exactly true to this decision went unnoticed at the time. Moreover, while Buffett does not have a track record of making high-profile pronouncements on the environment, MidAmerican has built a significant portfolio of wind generation assets and, again, you can bet the Oracle had a hand in making this happen. Were these decisions made because Buffett has suddenly turned environmentalist? Not a chance! Am I happy that the greatest visionary in US capitalism is seeing green in green? You bet!!

On Tuesday, the WJS's Environmental Capital about the latest large oil producer to throw the peak production towel. The May edition of Bloomberg Markets also featured an interesting article discussing declining production at Pemex, the Mexican oil giant (unfortunately this article isn't available free of charge). In both cases, it probably doesn't help that federal authorities have done everything in their power to discourage foreign investment. Nevertheless, given the opacity surrounding the state of global oil reserves generally, these tidbits of info can't help but lend further credence to the peak oil theory.

On Thursday, Chris Baltimore at Reuters told us about a certain billionaire Texas oil man who is making big bets on wind. Projects of this magnitude will do wonders for the economics of the sector by helping prices come down. I also like the idea of a north-south wind corridor and an east-west solar corridor. I'm not sure, however, that natural gas will ever power a significant portion of cars. It would appear illogical to me to switch out of a non-renewable fuel source at great costs to replace it with another.

On Thursday, Jim Fraser at the Energy Blog informed us that Trina Solar had canceled a $1 billion polysilicon plant. The reason? The poly supply shortage is easing and Trina can sourse all that it needs in the market place. Polysillicon has been the main enemy of margins in the solar PV industry over the past couple of years. Could it be time to start looking at some of the solar stocks that were particularly exposed to this?

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On Sunday, Aline van Duyn argued that businesses face clean water scarcity risks. Arguments about business risk and water scarcity, or about investing in water as the next hot commodity, come and go, but nothing ever seems to stick. This is probably because very few companies have yet managed to make big bucks from water problems. However, on the risk side, things could materialize sooner than some think. Question: what's put Canada on the map globally, attracted vast amounts of capital, has all oil majors in a stampede, and is (tacitly) key to America's plans for a safe and secure energy future? You got it, the Oil Sands.

On Tuesday, Green Wombat wondered whether it was too late for big solar to save the day. This is a huge deal and, in my opinion, a significant sign that solar thermal is coming of age (which I don't believe can be said of PV yet). But Wombat hits it on the nail when he says that bureaucratic and procedural hurdles, coupled with an uncertain policy environment, are slowing solar development down materially. My prediction (get ready for some real insight): don't expect those hurdles and uncertainties to disappear anytime soon.

On Tuesday, Neal Dikeman at Cleantech Blog wondered whether cellulosic ethanol would always be the bridesmaid. Interesting piece, especially in light of Neal's accurate predictions on the corn ethanol industry earlier. For my part, I have steered clear of all biofuels so far with my portfolio. When I look, I see big promises but no positive operating earnings for years to come in the case of cellulosic, or just a complete mess for corn ethanol driven mostly by wonky government policies. All in all, I yet have to encounter a good risk-adjusted value proposition in this space. Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot of smart money piling in, and I certainly get excited by the potential promises of cellulosic ethanol...I just have a hard time seeing where I can make money out of it.

On Thursday, Clarke Canfield at The Seattle Times told us about the latest commodity to be bubbling up: sawdust. While there isn't really an angle for most investors here, this is indicative of a broader secular trend of basic commodity scarcity, something the world has never really experienced for a prolonged period of time. While the sawdust story is amusing, tightness in commodity markets is not something to be taken lightly, as illustrated by recent unrest caused by global rice shortages.

On Friday, Jim Fraser at The Energy Blog informed us that Transalta Corp and Alstom were planning on building the first coal power plant CCS project in North America. Let us hope this one doesn't go the FutureGen way. This could also be an interesting proposition for Alstom. As in many other areas, a technological race is currently underway for end-of-pipe GHG management solutions, and emerging as a technology leader could mean access to booming markets for pollution control like China and India.

Posted by Charles Morand at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday,

Maria Manka at the Green Options Blog asked if branding will be blowing in the wind farms.

On Monday,

Utility analyst Daniel Scotto warned of increasing power outages in an interview with EnergyTechStocks.

On Tuesday,

Will Dunham at Reuters broke the news of another large chuck of the Antarctic ice shelf disintegrating.

On Wednesday,

Marianne Lavelle of Beyond the Barrel rolled out the news of truckers backing a national 65 mph speed limit to save gas (and money.) 

On Thursday,

Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2Tech listed 15 algae startups attempting to commercialize pond scum.  Algae startups are all the rage, with an in-depth article by Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media about GreenFuel's "well under way" initial commercial algae production plant.  Unlike the Petrosun Drilling algae farms I wrote about two weeks ago, the GreenFuel CEO is admirably low-key about the immediate prospects about for this facility. Hank Green at EcoGeek is feeling inundated under the green wave, but feels that Algae may have come of age.

On Friday,

Jim Kingsdale's Energy Investment Strategies plugged us in to a Danish plan to prepare the nation for electric vehicles (EVs.)  EVs were also on our minds when Craig Rubens at Earth2Tech wheeled out the news from my personal favorite EV maker (Aptera) that "Manufacturing Starts Now."

Preston at Jetson Green surprised us with the gigantic margins by which green buildings financially outperform their conventional counterparts.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 09:50 AM | Permalink

On Tuesday,

Michael Hoexter at RenewableEnergyWorld covered the increasing number of companies constructing Concentrating Solar Power plants around the world.

Dave Room at EcoLocalizer reported on a new model for residential solar purchasing: 24 neighbors banded together to put out their own Request For Proposals (RFP.)

On Wednesday,

Big Gav at Peak Energy rounded up stories on a less talked about biofuel, biogas, which I prefer to ethanol and biodiesel because of the superior crop yields in terms of miles per acre.  Miles per acre was big on the blogs this week, with both me and Philip Proefrock at EcoGeek quoting a study which highlights the potential of solar using this measure.

Jacques Leslie at The Christian Science Monitor warned that China's pollution nightmare will become everyone's pollution nightmare.  Disquieting news, given that China's CO₂ emissions are likely to grow 11% per year until 2010, according to researchers in California. 

On Thursday,

Steven Mufson and Blaine Harden at The Washington Post, showed us how China's ravenous appetite for coal was leading to booming exports and profits for coal miners in the US.  Should we really be exporting coal to China at the same time we complain about the global warming caused by their coal fired power plants.  China can ban coal exports, but so can the United States (or at least slap a gigantic carbon tax on them)

Environmental Leader told us how we ("green tech leaders") can open up a $104 Billion market in green technology products.

On Friday,

Hank Green at EcoGeek let us in on the details (and sponsor) of the $10M Automotive X-Prize competition.

The markets took a break.  Happy environmentally conscious egg dyeing!

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jcwinnie at After Gutenberg detailed the Mcgyan process which promises to convert a much array of oil feedstocks into biodiesel with a reusable catalyst and less waste.

AutoblogGreen plugged us in to Zap's new Prius PHEV conversion kit, but Green Car Congress brought us a study that warned we might need to do some serious water planning before such too many people start using them.

On Monday,

Craig Rubens at Earth-to-Tech painted a picture of a new photovoltaic coating from Corus Colors.

On Wednesday,

David Erlich at Cleantech.com rolled out the story of GE's new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) printing process.

On Thursday,

Tom Whipple at EnergyBulletin took at look at a largely unrecognized driver for the current financial turmoil: Peak Oil.

Earl K., at Climate Progress, warned that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is about the kill the electric car, again, and asked us to take action before the March 27 meeting.

On Friday,

Kevin Bullis at Technology Review gave us the skinny on Solaria's photovoltaic panels made with thin strips of silicon.

On Pi-Day,

Warren McLaren at Treehugger reminded us that there's a greener transportation option that water-guzzling PHEVs which is taking off in Britian, and Jasmin Chua found us a cartoon to cheer us up about the whole mess.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Wednesday, David Strahan at The Guardian calculated some lump sums for us. A couple of years ago, when it became clear that we were running into serious supply problems with oil, one pundit after another told us that we would never have to worry about coal. After all, in the US alone, there was 250 years' worth of supply at current consumption rates. Well, that was then, and this is now. And if skyrocketing feedstock costs aren't enough to deter you from building a coal plant, maybe rising capital costs will. Is King Coal's reign looking shaky? It might be time to re-visit Tom's article on constructing a peak coal portfolio.

On Wednesday, Keith Johnson at the WSJ's Environmental Capital wondered whether TXU was in too much debt to go green. The question is framed wrongly - it's not about whether TXU is too leveraged to go green, but rather about whether looming climate regulation will upset the economics of the power generation industry to a degree where the firm's new capital structure won't be optimal anymore. But the point is well made; while KKR and TPG were hoping that the cancellation of coal plants would reduce risk, it turns out that too much leverage may still put them in an environmentally-driven bind. Damned if you lever up to your eyeballs and cancel coal projects, damned if you don't.

On Wednesday, Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media wondered whether there would be competition for First Solar. Judging by the firm's trailing and forward PE ratios, you definitely wouldn't guess there's competition on the way. Whether the challenger discussed in the article makes it or not, it is somewhat dumbfounding that no one had gone after First Solar in any meaningful until now. But I for one certainly don't think that that will remain the case forever, and until I have a clearer picture of what the competitive landscape will look like once the industry has matured a bit, I wouldn't touch that stock at this level with a ten-foot pole.

On Friday, Robert Rapier at R-Squared Energy Blog argued that cellulosic ethanol was dead. This is an interesting take on the ethanol debate, and not a new point of view from the author. Of course, political leaders have invested much political capital in both corn-based and cellulosic ethanol, and this could ensure that many hurdles are surmounted at whatever the cost. Path dependency in policy-making can be an incredibly powerful force, and the US is showing no sign of veering off the ethanol path. Although I do like gasification technology, I'm definitely not ready to write-off cellulosic ethanol just yet.

On Saturday, Neal Dikeman at Cleantech Blog told us about doing cleantech the right way. I've discussed GE's cleatech moves on a number of occasions in the past. There's no doubt that by applying its notorious corporate culture and discipline to the emerging fields of cleantech and alt energy, GE has been able to achieve great successes, fast. As pointed out by Neal, this flies in the face of VC folks who often believe that large conglomerates are not nimble enough to play in high growth spaces like cleantech. In fact, in these times of uncertain equity markets, larger and more stable firms are a safer way to play cleantech than emergent pure-plays. Where's GE headed to next? Looks like electric cars and batteries.

Posted by Charles Morand at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, TraderMark at Fund My Mutual Fund opined that the solar sector was headed for a shakeout. Well, he didn't quite opine that...he reported the major points from Greentech Media's Solar Market Outlook event. The main conclusion is that it's not only 2008 that's going to be a tough year for solar, but rather the next 3 to 4 years as the industry matures and consolidates. TraderMark argues that the solar sector will follow a boom-bust-echo path; we're currently just exiting boom times (read: incredibly rich valuations times) and the whole think is about to go bust, but if you can pick up future winners on the cheap during this period echo will do great for you.

On Wednesday, Jim Fraser at The Energy Blog reported that the end might be in sight for silicon shortage in the solar industry. The timing will be unfortunate for many PV hopefuls. Just as solar PV manufacturers get a break on the cost side, the revenue end will likely give as too much supply forces prices down. Where should you look for good long-term investments? Low manufacturing costs and healthy balance sheets to come out ahead in the consolidation game.

On Thursday, The Economist discussed the transition process from geek to green. Do high-profile techies have what it takes to be good at running successful cleantech and alt energy firms? On the one hand, there is a decidedly 'tech' feel to a whole side of the business. On the other hand, the forces driving much of the momentum in cleantech and alt energy are vastly different from those driving the technology industry. Mind you, the internet sector did broadly follow a boom-bust-echo development path (see first item), so maybe experience navigating this sort of environment is what will really matter as the sector matures.

On Thursday, David M. Herszenhorn at the the NYT discussed the passing by the House of a bill to extend tax credits and other incentives to the alternative energy sector. Concerns about those credits are partly responsible for the current volatility experienced by alt energy stocks, most notably solar. It seems ridiculous to me to argue that Big Oil needs tax breaks to operate profitably. Alternative energy, on the other hand, still needs a push in the near term, although it holds tremendous promises in the long run from nearly any point of view. Given demands by industry actors to end political uncertainty soon so as to not stunt growth, separating the two issues would probably be a more pragmatic road to take at this point. After all, old pork-channeling habits die hard, so in its current form don't expect that bill to go down without a fight from the White House.

On Friday, Gerard Wynn at Reuters informed us that banks are in talks to shape U.S. climate policy. This news comes just a few weeks after a coalition of major US banks claimed they were going to place more weight on climate risks in lending. Are these two pieces of news coincidental? Not at all. As the entities that will be running the trading show in carbon markets, big banks have every incentive to ensure that the system is structured in a way that will maximize value for them and their shareholders. Of course there are those who are cynical about this and claim that carbon markets will be nothing but a big money grab by big finance. I'm in the camp of those who believe that you have to be real about it, and that if everyone loses it will be years before any real climate action is taken. After all, Gordon Gekko's famous "Greed is good" speech became famous for a reason.

Posted by Charles Morand at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Richard T. Stuebi at the Cleantech Blog gave us the heads up on a McKinsey Global Institute study on energy 'productivity' (read efficiency). MGI makes an good case for policy-makers to pay more attention to energy efficiency, and the authors outline what investment commitments would have to made in different sectors for their ideal scenario to be realized. One interesting insight - the residential sector would be near the top at 25% of investment flows. Are retail energy efficiency solutions one piece of regulation away from taking off?

On Tuesday, Nick Hodge at Seeking Alpha told us about how to invest in BIPV companies. If one believes that the MGI's masterplan for energy productivity (discussed above) has a good chance of being implemented, than the BIPV sector would be a huge winner. Another funny coincidence: one the global leaders in this space just got smashed for margin, inventory and guidance hiccups. Can you guess who that is? This could be a good time to look at picking some up on the (relative) cheap.

On Wednesday, Energy Tech Stocks argued that the chance of a disastrous drought in the U.S. southwest presented a huge opportunity for utility-scale solar firms like Ted Turner’s. It's no mystery that the once mighty rivers of the US west aren't so mighty anymore - so could the lost hydroelectric potential be recouped through massive solar developments? That's certainly a possibility and I'd go further and argue that, given yet unresolved variability and storage issues with solar PV, CSP is what you should really be interested in if you think the west is going solar for its baseload needs.

On Wednesday, Climateer at Climateer Investing told us about an interesting article that wonders whether massive railroad infrastructure will fundamentally change US transportation logistics. Railroads could be one of the great winners of tightening environmental standards, rising fuel costs and chronic traffic problems in most of North America's major urban areas. Of course, this isn't 1873 anymore and one doesn't build a railway where ever one feels like it. But because hardly any money has gone in the railroad network since 1873, upgrades alone could provide some interesting opportunities. Look for the suppliers.

On Thursday, Keith Johnson at the WSJ's Environmental Capital told us about a new carbon market. I've been keeping an eye on the little Massachusetts-based, Toronto-listed company discussed in this article for a couple of years now because of my interest in environmental markets. While I think that what these guys are doing is very innovative, I am a little concerned about crowding out. America's environmental markets (i.e. NOx/SOx, RECs, etc.) are neither especially large nor especially liquid. While the advent of carbon trading and the growth of the RECs markets could change that dramatically, it is unclear whether everyone will be able to play this game profitably. At the end of the day, in the exchange business, scale and reputation drive business which drives liquidity which drives efficient prices which drive more business, although the World Energy folks don't view exchange-based trading as an optimal solution (hmmmm...I wonder why that might be). At the other end of the spectrum, the more established brokers will drive a lot of the OTC business. While the entry of NYMEX into this sector boosted confidence that carbon trading is indeed be on the horizon for North America, it also made that whole space a lot less attractive for existing and potential competitors.

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Lisa Lee at Reuters informed us that banks were to weigh CO2 emissions in power lending. This is, without a doubt, the story of the week. However, anybody who has been following this space knew that the writing was on the wall. Cai Steger at The Invisible Green Hand put together a comprehensive list of coal power projects that have either been canceled or put on hold due to environmental concerns in the recent past. Somewhat paradoxically, the same week, a major US coal export terminal announced that it was boosting capacity. Don't be fooled, although coal may have suffered a small setback in America, it continues to do very well globally as a fuel source for power gen.

On Tuesday, Julian Murdoch at Hard Assets Investor gave us an overview of the latest Bush budget from an alternative energy perspective. This is an interesting read and I don't have too much to say about it, other than that the Bush Administration definitely did not throw alt energy any bones to make up for ground lost elsewhere.

On Wednesday, Ryan Stanton at Mlive.com told us that methane from landfills was seen as a viable, renewable source of energy. Landfill methane, old story right? Well I'm not so sure. While the technology and the concept have been with us for the better part of the past 20 years, the economics of these projects could be significantly altered in the years ahead for two main reasons: (a) the proliferation of incentive programs for clean power generation across North America, and (b) my favorite, carbon credits. It will be interesting to see what happens with firms heavily involved with this, which at the moment would be your large-cap waste management companies. Could they be in a position to build nice portfolios of carbon offsets for eventual re-sale in a North American carbon market...a la Blue Source?

On Wednesday, Massie Santos Ballon at Cleantech.com met with someone who is challenging silicon's grip on solar. Despite rough times in equity markets and uncertainty around federal incentives and the price of oil, solar remains a pretty exciting space because such innovations promise to bring down costs significantly in the next few years. However, although it is fair to say that an economic slowdown will not ravage the industry, hefty valuations across the sector as recently as last month suggest that a little more pain may be on the way if equity markets continue to soften. Watch for good bargains!

On Friday, Michael Kanellos at CNet News.com gave us some scary stats about greening the grid. What are two of the biggest issues facing the grid according to these two utilities executives? Grid expansion/upgrade and storage - two of our favorite sectors. The numbers given early on in the article provide you an idea of the scale of expenditures required over the next few decades. Check out Tom's article for a selection of transmission stocks.

Finally, the AltEnergyStocks.com team would like to wish all of our Chinese readers Happy New Year. This year is the year of the Rat. We put year of the Rabbit earlier - that was a mistake. Apologies.

Posted by Charles Morand at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago, I argued that signs were pointing toward an imminent return of diesel powertrain technology in North America. On Monday, however, Mike Millikin at Green Car Congress informed us that US new-car shoppers did not see diesels as a likely mainstream powertrain. Instead, hybrids really seem to have captured the imagination of US car shoppers. The respondents' perception of diesel seems rooted in stereotypes dating back to the 1980s, which I suppose is normal given that that is when US drivers last experienced diesel engines to any significant degree. It will be interesting to see whether the car makers that are banking on diesel making a comeback in North America manage to change that perception.

On Wednesday, Keith Johnson at the WSJ's Environmental Capital discussed rate cuts and renewable energy. Well...not quite. His post focuses mostly on what would happen to solar stocks should OPEC turn on the taps. Should OPEC nations find the capacity to increase their collective output, this would be yet one more item solar bears would have on their side for 2008. But the question is, can OPEC even find that capacity?

On Wednesday, Bioenergy Business told us that a new US renewable fuel standard trading exchange had gone live. Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of all things market-based for regulatory compliance, be it carbon credits, SOx emissions or RECs. This new kid on the environmental exchange bloc promises to be interesting, especially given that, unlike CO2 or RECs in certain states, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is mandatory.

On Thursday, Climateer at Climateer Investing gave us the heads up on an article that argues that China could soon be the world's top wind turbine manufacturer. There are two interesting angles for investors here. First, current tightness in wind turbine supply should ease by 2009 as new capacity continues to be added, which will lead to price decline and potential top-line impacts for the current turbine majors. Second, after a plethora of Chinese solar IPOs on US exchanges over the past 3 years, could Chinese turbine makers be next? Keep in mind, however, that quality will continue to be a key issue and that the incumbents have a serious advantage here.

On Friday, Renewable Energy Access informed us that the Senate Finance Committee had added renewable energy tax credits to the White House's proposed Stimulus Bill. Not quite sure what to think of that. For one thing, that package really isn't where these support schemes belong, and the fact that Senators resorted to trying to squeeze this in there highlights Congress' complete lack of leadership on this issue more generally. Second, like many others, I happen to think that this 'stimulus' effort is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to a problem that demands more fundamental and long-term action.

Posted by Charles Morand at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday, Todd Woody at Green Wombat told us the the clock was ticking on the crucial solar investment tax credit. When the solar ITC was dropped, the potential impacts were unclear although many folks had a good idea of what might happen. It now seems as though this is indeed throwing a spoke in the wheel of more solar development in the US, although industry leaders apparently remain sanguine. Given the amount of debt financing solar developments typically get, throw on top of ITC concerns high levels of uncertainty in capital markets over the direction of the economy (for at least the first half of 2007), and you have a perfect storm in terms solar financing drying up. We've recently argued that 2007 could be a bear year for solar...to be continued!

On Wednesday, BCC Research argued that the global market for electric energy storage would be worth $3.8 billion by 2013. A gentle reminder that large-scale energy storage is one of the biggest challenges facing North American power grids at the moment, especially as more renewable energy is brought on stream. But besides renewable power, effective large-scale storage could go a long way in dealing with base/peak fluctuations cleanly and cheaply. Regular readers know that both Tom and I like large-scale storage a lot, and these numbers seem to confirm our hunch.

On Wednesday, Keith Johnson at the WSJ's Environmental Capital informed us that alternative energy was coming of age. The Iberdrola Renovables IPO did indeed mark a turning point in the world of public alternative energy firms - the emergence of pure play renewable energy behemoths.

On Thursday, Renewable Energy Access informed us that Acciona (ACXIF.PK), the Spanish wind power heavyweight, had received its first wind power contract in Canada. This news came a week after the company had announced the opening of its first wind turbine manufacturing facility in the US. On Wednesday, Repower System AG (RPWSF.PK) announced its intention to open a turbine facility in Canada. 2007 saw growing activity by large foreign wind players in the North American market, and it is fair to say that North American really has become the world's new 'wind frontier' (at least for the time being). What's the significance of this? Just as the European wind power boom is waning, many of those firms are now finding new growth pipelines that will carry them through the next few years until Asia really takes off. You can also expect a continuation of the intense consolidation activity that's been the norm over the past two years. Find small publicly-traded firms with wind development rights and you have good plays on this consolidation - for this, however, you will mostly have to look on the Canadian side of the border.

On Saturday, Alex Steffen at World Changing showed us what happens when Big Oil starts to scenarize about climate change. Given the degree to which companies such as Shell influence energy policies, this is interesting insight in how they see things develop over the next few years.

Posted by Charles Morand at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, Cory Jenkins at Seeking Alpha told us about the next green energy phenomenon. The carbon offset space where credit origination is coupled with commoditization of what would otherwise be 'waste' (i.e. methane from livestock can be used to produce power instead of vented into the atmosphere) is a space I am very excited about. Some of you may have read the article in the December edition of Bloomberg Magazine on privately-owned Blue Source, and, if you haven't, I'd definitely recommend it. I think the business model makes an increasing amount of sense the more whatever you initially capture (e.g. methane) can be sold directly for revenue. Bank most of the credits, wait for regulation to happen, and you may find yourself sitting on an asset worth a lot of money. Again, unlike the more complex tech plays in the cleantech space, I like this because I can actually understand what's going on and can see a very healthy market develop for such services.

On Monday, Jim Gillies at The Motley Fool told us about the worst stock for 2008 (drum roll): First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR). One quote from this article pretty much sums up how I feel: "Never confuse a business with its stock." Ratios alone will tell you that this story is over-hyped, and Porter's Five Forces tell you that unless certain specific conditions are met at all times (and they are not in this case), it won't be too long before something gives and your margins get squeezed. To be continued...

On Wednesday, Xavier Navarro at AutoBlog Green informed us that the EU was ready to ban certain biofuels. The EU is citing false concerns to shield its grossly inefficient farmers from global competition. What's new? What's new is that we are now exiting a world where prices for agricultural commodities had been in steady decline in real terms for 30 years, and entering the brave new world of agflation. More than ever, the distorting effects of Western agricultural protectionism will be felt not only abroad but also at home. Concerns surrounding agricultural inflation driven by increasing demand for proteins by China and India's exploding middle classes remains, in my view, one of the biggest risks facing the non-cellulosic ethanol sector. The Food Vs Fuel debate will become, in the years ahead, more real than ever.

On Wednesday, Tyler Hamilton at Clean Break discussed the ugly side of next-gen energy storage. This story should serve as a cautionary tale to investors who get excited after one contract is signed or one milestone reached by a company working on the technology du jours. Many companies in the cleantech space are attempting to develop applications that will never make it past the lab's doors. In times of credit tightness and equity market softness (i.e. now), the technology risks discussed by Tyler are compounded by financial risks, as many of these firms get wiped out after they burn through their cash and are unable raise additional financing. Right now is a good time, if you are holding stocks like this, to take a real close look at various measures of working capital. A balance sheet implosion would prove just as disastrous for an investor as a battery explosion.

On Wednesday, Rob Day at Cleantech Investing gave one of the reasons why residential energy techs don't get adopted. Add to that substantial behavioral barriers, and you start to get the picture. The residential market for green solutions offers the potential for high margins but the the hurdles as they currently stand make that space, in my view, unattractive from an investor's standpoint. Building-related cleantech firms have a much better shot with commercial customers, but here the margins are typically lower.

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Technology Review, my favorite science publication, gave us last week a wrap-up of the year in energy. It's a recap of the main energy-related stories the magazine published in 2007, and is well-worth a read if you want to start 2008 up-to-date on where the science is on most issues of relevance to alt energy investors.

On Monday, Jerome Ball at Alternative Energy Trading argued that the solar PV industry would veer into oversupply in 2008. This is one of the most cogent analysis of the solar PV market I have read in a while, and it takes a somewhat contrarian view - what's not to like! I'm entirely out of solar PV at the moment simply because last time I had cash on hand and was looking for PV stocks, I couldn't find what to me seemed like good value. On a related note, on the VC front, Rob Day's Cleantech Investing Readers’ Survey (Part II) revealed that many folks out there feel like solar may be exhibiting signs of bubblishness. Will solar PV be the great bear story of 2008?

On Wednesday, Dan Lewis at AEI told us which were the best and worst returning alternative energy stocks in 2007. Ignore the non-US securities and an unsurprising picture emerges: the vast majority of top performers are solar stocks (many of them Chinese listed in the US) and most of the dogs are ethanol stocks. Unsurprising as it is, this picture is still worth a thousand words. Tom argued some time ago that the correction in ethanol stocks may have been overdone, and Jerome Ball (see above) recently argued that the solar bull may be running out of steam. Might 2008 be a good time to start looking at some of the ethanol stocks again?

On Wednesday, Sebastian Blanco at AutoblogGreen told us that new CAFE requirements had helped turn Detroit's eye back to diesels. Interestingly, while arguments are raging within the cleantech community over whether biofuels or electric powertrains will emerge as the dominant choice for road transportation in North America, diesel may quietly be staging a comeback. While both biofuels and electric cars are years away at best from seriously threatening the dominance of gasoline here, diesel could emerge as a contender sooner rather than later, as evidenced by its prominence at this year's Detroit Auto Show. Purists will certainly say diesel isn't 'clean', but one would be hard-pressed to argue that ethanol is. Moreover, I've always favored evolutions over revolutions, especially when it comes to my portfolio. So, could 2008 be the year to start looking for auto part makers with exposure to diesel?

On Thursday, the Biopact Team told us that investments in renewables broke the $100 billion barrier in 2007. It's a nicely-done overview of a recent study (PDF document) by New Energy Finance on alternative energy investment flows in 2007. On the public market side, the Iberdrola Renovables IPO was unmistakably the deal of the year. The interesting thing about this whole cleantech story is that it's been occurring in concurrence with a very strong bull market in North American equities, often blurring the line between good investment and good market. If 2008 turns out to be the difficult year that many expect it will be for equity markets, we could see the first real round of shake-outs in the short history of cleantech as an asset class, where many of the weaker players either fold because they can't raise money or get gobbled up. As pointed out by Rob Day in his Cleantech Investing Readers’ Survey (Part I), successful VC exits in the cleantech space have been few and far between thus far, and a bad year in equity markets could compound this problem.

Posted by Charles Morand at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What were Cleantech bloggers blogging about in 2007?  We don't have to wonder... instead, I asked Brian, AltEnergyStocks.com's web guru, to do a special run of our Cleantech News Algorithm.

The Cleantech News Algorithm automatically by scans nearly 300 cleantech blogs and news sources, selected for their cleantech content. It takes three main criteria into account: 1) what other bloggers are saying about a news item, 2) how users across the Internet prefer a news item (which we call 'social popularity'), and when the item was written.  Normally it gives high priority to fresh news items, but this time Brian tuned it to look at all of 2007.

The result is an eclectic list of 10 items green bloggers found interesting, controversial, or just worth a link.  Part of the fun is that we not only have the articles, but also a list of the blogs that had something to say about them... it's a who's-who of Cleantech blogging.

Do you see yourself here?  If not, you don't have to write a controversial story to get a link on Cleantech News or  next year's top 10.  You can write about the same stories that draw other bloggers' attention... it's rather like a bloggy Family Feud.  (If you write about cleantech or related subjects, and your feed isn't in the list, you can submit it here.)

An Eclectic Look Back at 2007

#10 Part II: The Price of Biofuels
Technology Review's second installment in their look into the state of the art of biofuels (part I is here) brought out the cellulosic skeptics at WSJ.com: Energy Roundup, Earth2Tech, Gristmill, and After Gutenberg.

#9 Is There a Green Business Bubble?
Joel Makower asked on May 18th, 

Is all of this focus on the greening of business merely a fad? When will the bubble burst?

His answer, and the thought provoking reasons he gave for it, drew comments from: Triple Pundit, Mitra - Natural Innovation, Peak Energy, and Environmental Economics & Sustainable Development.

#8 Dean Kamen's Stirling Solution.
Green Wombat's August 2nd article about the inventor's willingness to take a fall and use of Stirling engines to extend the range of electric vehicles and provide power to rural communities caught the attention of Earth2Tech, Peak Energy, After Gutenberg, EcoGeek, and AltEnergyStation.

#7 Algal Biodiesel: Fact or Fiction?  

Robert Rapier questioned another biofuel 2.0 at his R-Squared Energy Blog on May 18th, and his article became a standard counterpoint to the algae optimists in many articles atPeak Energy, Clean Auto Technology, The Oil Drum, Peak Oil Optimist, and Gristmill (where my own Biodiesel's Nightmare article was unfortunately misattributed by the author.)

#6 Is IBM Going Solar?  

When AltEnergyStocks.com's Contributing Editor Neal Dikeman looked into IBM's solar push at Cleantech Blog on July 26th, bloggers at Energy Answers, Triple Pundit, Peak Energy, Global Warming Watch, and GUNTHER Portfolio helped spread the news.

#5 TerraPass customer survey results: indulgence myth pretty much dead  

When TerraBlog from TerraPass boasted about how their customers claimed not to be buying their way out of guilt in a survey on August 22nd, AutoblogGreen and  Triple Pundit were somewhat skeptical, but EcoGeek.org, Environmental Economics, and Green Car Congress just relayed the news.  Gristmill made the best point about this "odd, moralistic, trope."

#4 Start here  

RealClimate did a public service back on May 22nd, when they published a good introduction to climate science for the uninitiated.   Reasic, Climate Progress, The Conscious Earth, Peak Energy, and TerraBlog all found it helpful.

#3 1934 and all that 

RealClimate then topped this in early August.  Climate skeptics were shooting off about an error in US temperature data, so they did everyone a favor on August 10th, and pointed out that it amounted to

A couple of hundredths of degrees in the US rankings and no change in anything that could be considered climatically important.

Climate Progress (twice, no, three times,), Peak Energy, Gristmill (twice), TerraBlog,  and maribo helped debunk the "debunkers."

#2 TreeHugger Acquires Discovery Communications  

TreeHugger gave humourous spin to the site's acquisition by Discovery on August first.  But It's the Environment, Stupid., Practical Environmentalist, AutoblogGreen, Maria Energia, Greenway Communique, The Good Human, and Triple Pundit all took the acquisition of a green webportal by a mainstream media company seriously.

When Tyler Hamilton at Clean Break speculated about Hydrogen fuel-cell leader Ballard's possible deal with Daimler and Ford to shed its automotive division on November 5th,  Peak Energy, After Gutenberg,  Climate Progress, Gristmill and I joined in the speculation about the end of the politically driven fuel cell vehicle boondoggle.  However, Energy Problems and Solutions and  Hydrogen Cars and Vehicles Blog still hold out hope to for the Hydrogen economy.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the Weekend,

Craig Mackintosh at Celsias struck a note of cautious optimism about the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali.

Jim Fraser at the Energy Blog transmitted the findings of a study of interconnected wind as baseload power.

On Monday,

The Biopact team reported on as study the potential for bio-based bulk chemicals to cut the consumption of non-renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

On Tuesday, 

Rachel Barron at Greentech Media splashed the news of PG&E's agreement to purchase wave power from Finavera Renewables (Toronto: FNV, Pink Sheets: FNVRF).

Konrad Imielinski at GoG2G attributed the sharp rise in hard-hit ethanol stocks to the immanent passage of the Energy Bill. 

On Wednesday,

Craig Rubens, at earth2tech, published a great FAQ about thin film solar.

Oliver Lewis, at Celsias, filled us in on what was in (and out of) the Energy bill.    In: Biofuels, 35MPG CAFE standards, efficiency incentives.  Out: Renewable Energy incentives, taxes on oil firms.

David Roberts, at Gristmill, dissected the EPA's use of the above bill's passage as a flimsy excuse to deny California's application for a waiver from federal fuel economy standards. California will contest the ruling.

On Thursday,

Clean Edge summarized the Energy Information Administration's new Annual Energy Outlook.  Once again, the EIA is raising projections for oil prices, but they still think prices will fall back and that the US will be able to increase our production in the short term and decrease our imports over the next decade.  

On Friday,

Karla Harby at the New York Academy of Sciences briefed us on how flywheels can address changing power demands.

The Week in Cleantech is a weekly roundup of our favorite cleantech and alt energy blog posts and stories from across the web. If you know of a good piece that you think should be included here, don't hesitate to let us know!

DISCLOSURE: Tom Konrad and/or his clients have positions in FNVRF.

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Wednesday, Mike Millikin at Green Car Congress told us that a federal court had rejected challenge to California's vehicle GHG regulations. This could provide a significant boost to the clean car market in California and in other jurisdictions following its lead. 

On Wednesday, Stephanie I. Cohen at Market Watch wondered whether the solar industry could live without the federal tax credit. The conclusion: sure, but solar development will slow and will be restricted to a few states with strong incentive programs. Does that also apply to wind? Industry actors certainly seem to think so, although wind appears to be in a stronger position to compete against thermal generation at the higher end of the cost spectrum without subsidies. 

On Wednesday, Rachel Barron at Greentech Media told us that Shell was shedding solar. This is probably good news for company shareholders. While Shell is technically an 'energy' company, it is neither a specialist in power generation nor manufacturing. The company's efforts in next-generation biofuels, given its extensive expertise in all areas of the liquid fuel value chain, could yield much more interesting results. 

On Thursday, Renewable Energy Access informed us that Senate had voted down renewable energy's tax title. It's probably no surprise that, despite giving renewables the cold shoulder, US law makers still managed to funnel pork ethanol's way. Given the state of financial markets at the moment, this doesn't come at a particularly opportune time for alt energy investors. Nevertheless, it is probably safe to assume this is just a temporary set back, and I am quite certain that something will materialize at the federal level for the sector before too long. Nationally and globally, there are definitely industries that are doing worse than this one. 

On Friday, Jim Fraser at The Energy Blog relayed Ausra's announcement of the first US manufacturing plant for solar thermal power systems, and reviewed the background on Ausra and their innovative CLFR technology.

The Week in Cleantech is a weekly roundup of our favorite cleantech and alt energy blog posts and stories from across the web. If you know of a good piece that you think should be included here, don't hesitate to let us know!

Posted by Charles Morand at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many of our readers may know about this already, but earlier this week I came across The Energy Challenge, a series of articles by New York Times writers on energy and environment issues. This is a great resource for alt energy investors and aficionados.

On Monday, David Biello at Scientific American discussed the state of the science for us. This is likely nothing new for many of our readers but serves as a good reminder of why I believe the cleantech space will be so strong in the next few decades.

On Wednesday, Rebecca Smith and Kevin J. Delaney at the WSJ described Google's electricity initiative for us. Most MBA students will probably tell you that this sounds a lot like unrelated diversification for Google, and that they wouldn't favor it from a shareholder's standpoint given the value-destruction history of such endeavors. On the plus side for alt energy investors, this means there is a new strategic investor out there with deep pockets and the desire to do deals. I'm certainly going to keep an eye on their next few moves.

On Wednesday, Graham Jesmer at Renewable Energy Access argued that wind power was helping Texas move past oil. While California, with its plethora of dot-com-venture-capitalists-reborn-as-green-warriors (YouTube clip), tends to be the darling of cleantech enthusiasts, Texas I would argue is at the fore of where the real action is. Jurisdictions like Texas will do more than Vinod Khosla ever will to actually bring down the cost of clean power gen through fostering industry scale. In fact, Texas could be the place that tips the economics of power gen in favor of wind sans subsidies...mind you, China might be able to help with that.

On Friday, Daniel Englander at Greentech Media unveiled the 2008 Greentech Market Taxonomy for us. This is a neat way of thinking about opportunities in that very broad space (i.e. cleantech or greentech...I have no preference), and the author hopes folks can build on his model to push the analysis further. For public market investors, there are probably many ways to augment this framework. For example, a table of where most of the financing is coming from (i.e. public Vs. private) for each sector would be a good starting point. For power gen, a comparison of costs of production on a per MW basis. And you could go on.

The Week in Cleantech is a weekly roundup of our favorite cleantech and alt energy blog posts and stories from across the web. If you know of a good piece that you think should be included here, don't hesitate to let us know!

Posted by Charles Morand at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Joe Carroll and Mario Parker at Bloomberg News argued that the current ethanol bust was making losers of Bush, Gates and D.E. Shaw. We are proud to say that at AltEnergyStocks.com, we have always been corn ethanol bears, even when many of these stocks were trending up. But beyond bragging about our foresight, which, by the way, was shared by several people, the current fiasco is a cautionary tale of the dangers of government trying to create a winner industry when that industry makes no sense on most levels. Things may change, but to date all that ethanol has managed to achieve is: cost American tax-payers millions of dollars, fill the coffers of already-millionaire farmers, destroy billions of dollars in shareholder value, deplete scarce water resources, inflate food prices, prevent an open global market for biofuels that would benefit nations with a true comparative advantage such as Brazil, and placate a handful of inefficient farmers who account for a fraction of the total US population. Might it be time to pull the plug and let this white elephant die off before it tramples anything else? Apparently not.

On Monday, Mark Gongloff at the WSJ's Energy Roundup discussed the difference between peak and plateau. Whether oil supply is currently peaking or plateauing, one thing is certain: demand is steadily growing. So if the debate really has shifted from whether supply is increasing to whether it is peaking or plateauing, basic microeconomics is quite clear about what the outcome will be on prices. The only question remaining, then - and this comes back to peak Vs. plateau - is "how fast will prices rise?"

On Thursday, Climate Progress reported what could, if true, be the story of the week. Well, I suppose that's open for debate, but I do agree with the author that this announcement should be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, Chinese officials making these types of declarations in public is likely a signal that China is warming (no pun intended) to the idea of seriously negotiating on this issue. China is, after all, the world's largest source of CDM carbon credits, and regional players are betting that it may soon seek to formalize its position as a major environmental market.

On Thursday, James at Green Investments discussed India's cleantech - a huge opportunity for investors. As in other areas, India's cleantech potential is often overshadowed by China's. But India is no cleantech joke. I'm surprised the author omitted to discuss Suzlon and the REpower deal, which squarely put India on the global alternative energy map.

On Friday, Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media told us all about turning coal's CO2 into biomass. Coal is plentiful and cheap, and, despite the way many folks feel about it, it just ain't going away anytime soon. In terms of investment, I have discussed in the past opportunities related capturing greenhouse gases from power gen facilities. While very speculative and closer to pure tech plays than alternative energy, companies in this field could nonetheless one day be offering solutions in very high demand. I believe this is a space worth keeping an eye on.

The Week in Cleantech is a weekly roundup of our favorite cleantech and alt energy blog posts and stories from across the web. If you know of a good piece that you think should be included here, don't hesitate to let us know!

Posted by Charles Morand at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The December edition of Bloomberg Markets Magazine is devoted partly to the rise of carbon capitalism. An interesting series of articles on the budding carbon economy. While there are currently few ways for North American investors to play this, I continue to believe that this is an area the environmental investor must keep an eye on.

On Monday, Jim Kingsdale at Seeking Alpha discussed ethanol and biodiesel: two very different biofuels. This is an interesting piece with a bullish outlook for two biodiesel stocks. Biodiesel often lingers in the shadow of ethanol in North America, yet it is a very interesting way to play biofuels. On the conventional fuel side, it seems as though diesel has all it takes to make a comeback in North America.

On Tuesday, Rachel Oliver at EcoSolutions told us all about CSP. We've addressed in the past the fact that concentrating solar power (CSP) already makes economic sense, which cannot be said of PV. This article, however, points to a whole new world of CSP possibilities in a region where many of the basic requirements for successfully concentrating solar power are in place.

On Wednesday, Katie Fehrenbacher at earth2tech argued that we could save the planet with genomics. This is a very interesting endeavor, and I for one am a strong believer in the ability of genetic and biological engineering to help surmount many of the problems that currently plague biofuels.

On Wednesday, EERE News informed us that the AWEA had boosted wind power projections to 4,000 MW for 2007. The article discusses the fact that the current shortage in turbine components is leading manufacturers to add new capacity. The wind turbine manufacturing industry, led by the likes of Vestas (VWDRY.PK), GE (NYSE:GE), Siemens (NYSE:GI) and others, looks rock solid at the moment. However, look out for that extra capacity to eventually ease out the supply side of that attractive wind equation.

In a recent survey of executives, McKinsey found that, of all sociopolitical issues, the environment and climate change were believed to be the ones that would impact shareholder value the most over the next five to ten years (PDF document). Nothing groundbreaking here I suppose, but I take such results as a powerful sign that the current momentum in cleantech has legs. Make no mistake, this sector remains, as acknowledged by some of the main players, heavily depend on policy and regulatory incentives for its viability. Having business on side is therefore critical.

The Week in Cleantech is a weekly roundup of our favorite cleantech and alt energy blog posts and stories from across the web. If you know of a good piece that you think should be included here, don't hesitate to let us know!

Posted by Charles Morand at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, Richard Stuebi at Cleantech Blog highlighted the extent to which NBC is in the dark about energy efficiency. I couldn't agree more with Stuebi here - this idea is so painfully bad that it's a bit of a mystery why anyone in their right minds would agree to it. In the space of a few minutes, GE likely managed to undermine over two years of flashy press events and other publicity stunts aimed at convincing investors and the populace that "green is green." If Alt Energy Stocks awarded a prize for misplay of the week, this would certainly be it.

On Monday, James Kanter at The Business of Green wondered why oil majors were so keen on renewable energy. I'm not sure I agree with the thesis put forth in this article. It seems to me that, ceteris paribus (especially with regards to forex), scarcer oil means higher prices (at least in the short term), and that, given the inelasticity of demand for oil, this should drive up top line growth and share prices (and, by extension, option values). Regardless of the answer, the question is worth posing: do oil majors invest in alternative energy because they see a business case or are they doing it for reputational reasons. The jury is out.

On Wednesday, Tyler Hamilton at Clean Break argued that geothermal was flourishing under the shadow of solar. A few months ago, I had a chat with an investment banker who worked on a number of alternative energy deals, and he too was of the opinion that geothermal was a fundamentally great alternative energy play. Here's a list of geothermal stocks I recently came across.

On Wednesday, Scott Miller at BIOConversion Blog told us about the groundbreaking of the country's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility. This indeed should eventually usher in a new biofuel era for North America. Don't hold your breath, however, because cellulosic will continue to account for a small percentage of total ethanol production over the next couple of years. Nevertheless, this is where you want to be looking long-term, especially given cellulosic's new appeal with policy-makers. Al Gore, among others, also seems to like cellulosic ethanol.

On Friday, Xavier Navarro at Autoblog Green green discussed China's recent mission to the European Parliament to study CO2 regulations. China is already the single largest market for CDM carbon credits (PDF document), and there