Clean Transportation

Tom Konrad CFA Tesla Motors (TSLA) is not the only electric vehicle (EV) stock.  Here are nine other public companies helping to replace petroleum with electricity in our cars and trucks. Early in this series on the Best Peak Oil Investments, I put together an in-depth comparison of alternative fuels.  I concluded that the best prospect for displacing oil in the long term is electricity supplemented by biofuels.  Vehicle Electrification is likely to come to dominate the transportation sector because only renewable electricity can supply energy on the scale that we currently use for transportation with limited...

Doug Young BYD's G3 at the Shenzen High -Tech Fair in 2009.  BYD needs more exciting new products to thrive despite Chinese buyers spurning Japanese auto brands. Photo credit: Brücke-Osteuropa. The prognosis isn't looking good for Japanese car brands in China, with Honda (Tokyo: 7267) becoming the latest predictor that the gloom plaguing Japan's big 3 automakers could last into next spring and perhaps even longer. That looks like bad news for not only Honda, Toyota (Tokyo: 7203) and Nissan (Tokyo: 7201), but also their Chinese...

Toyota said it's aiming to increase hybrid production by 60 percent in 2006 and will cut costs and prices to make them more affordable. "In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will be 100 percent hybrid,'' Toyota Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto said in Frankfurt, declining to give a time for achieving the target. "We believe that in 10 years the world will be filled with hybrids.''

Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) has long been one of my favorite energy efficiency picks, with an added bonus coming from their joint venture with Saft to produce batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles.  They have also shown some energy saving innovation making parts for auto interiors. Building EfficiencyEfficient buildings are much more complex than simply replacing inefficient HVAC and lighting with more efficient versions.  Quite often, the most cost effective measures come from using systems more efficiently.  As an analogy to the home, look at any list of quick tips for energy saving around...

Ford (NYSE:F) just announced that it was going to unveil a suite of new vehicles based on clean powertrain technologies at the upcoming LA Auto Show. Too little too late? The company, which failed to anticipate the impact of sustained high gas prices on demand for gas-guzzling SUVs, has been haemorrhaging market share over the past 2 years to rivals with greater foresight like Toyota (NYSE:TM). To many observers, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for this icon of the US auto industry. On a related note, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments today on a petition...

Earlier this week Westport Fuel Systems (WPRT:  Nasdaq) announced a technology breakthrough with its high pressure direct injection system for truck engines using natural gas as a fuel.  A new cryogenic pump has been development for high-horsepower applications and integrated into Westport’s fuel system, which has apparently been demonstrated at higher cylinder pressures.  The company apparently plans to load the innovation, which it called Westport HPDI 2.0, into next generation diesel engines. Investors interested in renewable energy or focused environmental improvements are probably wondering why this little company outside Vancouver, Canada could be important.  The uncomfortable truth is that the world’s addiction to fossil fuel will not...

Portfolio theory can lend insights into which carbon abatement strategies policymakers should pursue.  If policymakers listen, what will it mean for green investors? Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Good Info, Not Enough Analysis I've now read most of my review copy of Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World.  The quality of the information is generally excellent, as Charles has described in his reviews of the Wind and Solar and Efficiency and Geothermal chapters.  As a resource on the state of Cleantech industries, it's generally excellent.  As an investing resource, however, it leaves something to be desired.  Each chapter is written...

Arotech Corporation (ARTX) announced today that its Electric Fuel subsidiary is one of the founders of the recently formed Zinc Energy Storage Technology (ZEST) Consortium. Launched in March 2005, the Consortium's declared aim is to enable the market for zinc-energy storage technology to realize its full potential. The Consortium will initially focus on the electric vehicle market in Asia. In preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, which China in its successful bid to the International Olympic Committee declared would be a "Green Olympics," China has committed to employing 1,000 environmentally clean buses for transportation of...

Tom Konrad I'm more than a little obsessed with finding investments which will increase with the price of oil, but not contribute to global warming.  This is quite tricky, because most forms of renewable energy produce electricity, which we cannot use in our current fleet of cars.  Biofuels ( even cellulosic) can be used in cars, but are limited by supply of feedstock, and by the environmental degradation that growing and collecting biofuel feedstocks can cause.  Not to mention the impact on food prices (despite the fact that this may help poor farmers even as it hurts poor...

John Petersen In 2009, the world produced some 13.2 billion metric tons of hydrocarbons, or about 4,200 pounds for every man, woman and child on the planet. Burning those hydrocarbons poured roughly 31.3 billion metric tons of CO2 into our atmosphere. The basic premise of alternative energy is that widespread deployments of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles will slash hydrocarbon consumption, reduce CO2 emissions and give us a cleaner, greener and healthier planet. That premise, however, is fatally flawed because our planet cannot produce enough non-ferrous industrial metals to make a meaningful difference and the prices...

SatCon Technology Corporation (SATC) announced that its first deliveries of its new line of hybrid electric auxiliary components have been incorporated into Azure Dynamics Corporation's (TSX: AZD, AIM: ADC) electric and hybrid electric vehicles ("HEVs").

Unique Mobility Inc (UQM) announced today that it has delivered to Deere & Company (NYSE: DE - News) a John Deere hybrid electric concept vehicle incorporating both of the latest advancements to UQM(R) propulsion system technology, 10 to 1 constant power speed ratio and full wave commutation technology. Constant power speed ratio (CPSR) is the ratio between the top speed of a motor and its base speed. Across this speed range, a motor is able to deliver maximum power. The Company's permanent magnet electric propulsion systems achieve a 10 to 1 CPSR.

A couple of weeks ago, we received an inquiry from a reader asking us to look into potential beneficiaries of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)'s high-speed rail (HSR) provisions. This sounded like something our readers would want to read about so I decided to do it. In a nutshell, here are the two main component's of ARRA's HSR approach: $8 billion for for HSR corridors and other intercity passenger rail service (unclear at this point how much will go into each, although the companies discussed below can benefit from both) The rules around state issuance...

Unique Mobility Inc (UQM) announced today that it has received a $599,000 contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to develop a hybrid electric propulsion system to power small unmanned ground combat vehicles with vehicle weights of 500 pounds to one ton. The propulsion system to be developed includes a 10 kW propulsion motor, an in-line planetary gear set and a dual motor controller with an integrated 60-hertz inverter, which will operate when the vehicle is stationary.

ZAP (ZAPZ) announced today that dealer purchase orders for its Smart Car high-gas-mileage vehicles has increased to more than $200 million as American demand for the unique microcar has spread. ZAP CEO Steve Schneider made the announcement. On March 9, ZAP announced that it had crossed the $100 million purchase order milestone for the Smartcar Americanized by ZAP from U.S. auto dealers. Demand for the highly efficient gas-powered car has accelerated as rising gas prices continue to fuel consumer interest in next-generation automobiles, according to Mr. Schneider. Oil prices recently climbed to more than $50 per barrel, rising...

Over the past few days (and continuing this week), Tom has been writing about about what he sold recently. Lately, I have been thinking about what I could buy with the cash I have sitting around, seeing as many alt energy stocks look like bargains compared to where they were trading at just a few short months ago. Over the weekend, I looked again into a stock I wrote about in May, Railpower Tech (RLPPF.PK or P.TO). I got a couple of requests for updates on this one so I decided to write about it. Railpower makes hybrid...