Alternative Energy Investing takes many forma

Alternative Energy Investing

NOTE: SolarIntell.com does not consider nuclear energy to be "alternative", but rather, considers coal and nuclear to be the two most toxic forms of electricity generation.

from: http://www.low-cost-stock-recommendations.com/alternative-energy.html

Although alternative energy provides only a small percentage of the world's supply, it is now apparent that demand is rapidly rising. Environmental regulations and Government support is preparing renewable energy companies for a potential boom.

There are several different forms.

1.) Hydroelectric: One-fourth of the electricity used throughout the world, and 5% of the worlds overall energy supply is generated by Hydroelectric power.

2.) Nuclear: The United States has 104 operating Nuclear power plants in 31 states, producing 787 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2006.

3.) Solar: Energy demand for Solar has grown 20% plus every year for the past two decades and shows no signs of letting up. The demand is spurred by increasing efficiency of solar technology and manufacturing improvements.

4.) Wind: Currently, wind generates enough electricity to service about 3 million homes in the USA. The Federal Government has set long-term goals to generate 6% of electricity production from wind sources by 2030.

5.) Geothermal: This is energy derived from the heat in the interior of the earth. Although this form of energy has been around for quite some time, it is just now starting to expand in the USA.

The most promising of these energies, in that they are comparable in price to oil and gas, is hydroelectric, nuclear and wind.

In California, legislation was passed in April of 2007 requiring 10% of the energy produced to come from renewable energy sources. The push is on in the worlds 7th largest economy. Many parts of the state is flush with volcanic activity, which presents Geothermal Operations a viable opportunity to expand.

Investing in renewable energy is speculative. Most of these companies are small to mid-sized and have little financial history to offer its investors. Also alarming, many of the companies supplying the technology to produce alternative energy, still aren't profitable yet. Analyst many times disagree on who the leaders of the field actually are.

Large returns are going to be made with many of these companies. However, there will also be many companies who fail. For those investors who prefer safety, but still want to participate, consider investing in the WilderHill Energy ETF, symbol PBW, on the American Stock Exchange.

And for those of you who are speculators, it is possible that fortunes will be made off some of these fledgling companies.