Solar Energy Investing News; Renewable Power Stocks Funds

The wild and wolly green energy stocks roller-coaster ride continued today as the post-election postmartum returned many clean power shares into bargain territory. Alternative Energy investing is for high risk, longer term investors and medium risk longterm investors may want to consider utilizing green energy mutual funds as a part of the growth equity portion of your portfolio. Consult your advisor.

Here are some green power companies and other alternative energy stocks in the news:

PHOTON "Second Solar" Conference, San Francisco, Dec. 2-4, 2008


NOV06: Akeena Solar Q3 loss now $5.5M; Revenue exceeds $10.6M, up 31% year over year


NOV06: Vestas wind turbine firm expects top line to grow 25% next year

NOV06: GT Solar Reports Results for Q2 2009; Revenue up 71%, Profits Strong


NOV05: 10 Small Cap and Microcap Alternative Energy Stocks


NOV04: AMSC Reports Q2 Loss of $0.10; Hits $40 mil in qrtrly rev


OCT25: 6 Green Power Investment Funds for long term growth


OCT21: Major Publicly-listed Photovoltaic Solar Power Companies



Clean Power Investing Links:

Green Stocks Investing Info

PVintell.com Photovoltaic Solar Energy Stocks

Wind Energy Stocks Investing Info

Geothermal Power Stocks Funds Investing

Alternative Energy Investing, Renewable Power Websites

Renewable Energy Investing Websites and Green Power Links

Here are some renewable energy investing and clean power fund websites, important resources for researching alternative power technology and renewable energy companies. Resources for clean energy information, green power investment funds and green investments globally:


5N Plus Inc. official english website



American Solar Energy Society



Directory of Solar Power Info Online



DOE Energy-Efficiency and Renewable Power Website



EcoWorld.com - Nature and Technology In Harmony



Energy Conversion Devices page at Yahoo Finance



Environmental Realty and Ecological Property Website



Evergreen Solar company website ESLR



First Solar company information, FSLR



Geothermal.info Geothermal Power website


Green-Energy-News.com



Hawaii Green Homes Land



Home Power Magazine - Official Website



OyNot.com Solar Energy and Batteries


PanTerra Clean Energy Business Parks




PBD - Info on PowerShares Global Clean Energy Fund



Renewable Energy Access Website


Renewable Energy Focus



RenewableEnergyStocks.com Global Stock List



Science Daily Solar Energy Information



SolarBuzz.com Best Solar Energy Website



Solar Energy Investment Blog


Spire Solar company info at Yahoo Finance; SPIR



SunPoweredDreams.com Green Energy Blog


Wind Energy Company websites; Windpower Info online

Wind Energy Investing Links

* Acciona Wind Energy (ANA.MC)
* Babcock and Brown Wind Partners (ASX: BBW BBWPF.PK)
* Boralex Wind Energy info
* Clipper Windpower (CWPR.L) Wind Turbine Manufacturing
* Gamesa Corp (GAM.MC) alternative energy website
* Naikun Windpower company information
* SkyPower Windpower Investment Fund
* Sky Power - Canadian windpower firm
* Suzlon Energy (SUZL) Indian wind power stock
* Vestas Wind Systems (VWSYF) Danish windpower company
* Western Wind Energy (WND: TSX.V) publicly-listed stock
* Xantrex Technology (XTX) solar energy inverters



Alternative Energy Investing; Clean Power Stocks

* Green Realtor Website
* Bees Trees Frogs Elephants Nature Website
* Calvert Global Alternative Energy Investment Fund (CGAEX)
* Canadian Hydro (KHD) windpower developments
* Canada Windpower Atlas
* Geothermal Energy Investing Info
* Directory of Top Alternative Energy Websites
* Naikun Wind Energy British Columbia development
* Net Metering information
* Ormat Tech (ORA) geothermal power leading company
* Renewable Power Investing website
* Solar Buzz Renewable Energy Investments
* The Solar Intelligence Blog



Environmental Blogs and Nature Websites

* Geotherma.info Geothermal Energy Stock Investing
* Water Partners International
* Official Website of Greenpeace International
* Nature.com - Animals and Ecology Nature Website
* Nature.ca - Canadian Natural World and Ecology Site
* SolarIntell.com - Guide to Clean Energy Websites and Renewable Power Blogs
* Solar Energy on Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia
* Bees Trees Frogs Elephants Nature and Ecology Blog
* Geotherma.info Geothermal Energy Investing

Ontario advised to consider geothermal energy investments

It's time we started warming to geothermal

From TheStar.com - Geothermal Energy Business

by Tyler Hamilton

Industry and government in Canada's western parts are poised to spend billions of dollars over the coming decade trying to capture carbon dioxide from oil-sands operations and coal plants. They'll then compress and inject that CO2 underground for what we hope, but don't know for certain, is permanent storage.

The idea is that Canada – to be specific, western Canadian oil companies and power plant operators – will over time become experts in carbon capture and sequestration and a new industry will be born, creating exports to overseas markets like China.

This doesn't do much for Ontario and its struggling economy. We don't have oil-sands projects. Our coal plants are targeted to shut down. And even if we did keep the coal plants, the province's geology limits where huge volumes of liquefied CO2 could be stored.

But what if Ontario could develop the expertise, skills and technologies to develop a form of emission-free power generation that would displace the need for coal, and help move the world away from petroleum and toward grid-supplied electric transportation?

Why doesn't Ontario try to get into the geothermal power game? Not the kind of geothermal that uses heat pumps and provides heating and cooling in our homes; rather, the kind of geothermal where high heat found kilometres under the earth's surface can be used to generate electricity.

Done laughing?

Susan Petty, president of Altarock Energy Inc. in Seattle, says it's not as crazy as some people might think. As a comprehensive study out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded last year, there is useable heat everywhere we walk on this planet and more of it should be tapped. It's all a matter of how deep you drill, and how you go about bringing that heat to the surface using so-called enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS technologies.

Petty was part of the panel that conducted the study. After its release, she formed Altarock to practice what the study preached. "It's serious," says the 25-year veteran of the geothermal industry. "Our goal is to get to where we can do it anywhere, but that's going to require that we bring the cost down."

She looks at a map of Ontario and singles out a few potential spots. "In southern Ontario, near Lake Erie, they show some higher temperatures at depth." There are also locations just west of Ottawa and north of Peterborough, she adds.

In Landau, Germany, the world's first commercial EGS plant began operation last October. It's tapping temperatures of 155 degrees C about 4.5 kilometres below ground. Petty says the Landau project is dealing with depths and temperatures very similar to those found in parts of Ontario.

If that's the case, why aren't we giving this a shot? Lack of awareness, and the general belief it can't be done in Ontario, is one reason.

Policy is another. Germany, for example, has a renewable energy act that pays a fixed, long-term premium for all kinds of clean energy and encourages industry to experiment.

Another barrier is lack of data. "We can't know these things unless we get the data, and the only way to get the data is to drill deep holes," explains Petty. "We've got to get more holes in the ground."

Some data must exist somewhere. Talisman Energy, for example, does lots of natural gas drilling in Lake Erie. Union Gas is building underground natural gas storage in southwestern Ontario. Sarnia and neighbouring Petrolia, the birthplace of North America's commercial oil industry, would also have data on well temperatures. Likewise, anywhere there's deep mining in Ontario there would also be depth and temperature data.

All that should be aggregated by the government and analyzed, and new test holes need to be drilled where gaps in data exist. At the same time, the Ontario Power Authority could easily add geothermal power to its standard offer contract, offering a premium price for the power to anyone who can make it work.

"To do geothermal in Ontario the utility would need to pay something like 17 or 18 cents per kilowatt hour," says Petty. Others with their eye on the market estimate up to 30 cents would do the trick.

It's not outlandish. We're already paying 42 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar electricity, and that's for power that only flows when the sun is shining. Surely, the province could cough up 30 cents under long-term contract to help stimulate a handful of geothermal pilot projects. What's the harm in putting it out there and letting the market decide?





ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL

Conventional geothermal plants, widely found in jurisdictions including Iceland, California, Italy and Indonesia, are low-hanging fruit. They are located in areas where one need not drill more than three kilometres, and where cracks and pores in the rock occur naturally.

This "porosity" is important, because you access the heat by pumping water into deep boreholes. The water spreads through the pores and cracks in the rock, absorbing as much of the heat as possible. It's then pumped back to the surface to create steam that turns a turbine that generates clean electricity 24 hours a day.

Conventional geothermal power is already competitive with the cost of grid electricity in most places, particularly in Europe where prices are generally higher than in North America.

What Altarock hopes to do is improve the economics of what's called "enhanced geothermal system," or EGS — basically geothermal power plants that get heat from greater depths and from non-porous rock. It's more expensive because the further down you drill the costlier it becomes. You also have to artificially fracture the rock under a carefully controlled process to achieve ideal porosity, another added expense and a tricky procedure using current technologies and methods.

"Right now it's probably not economic to drill for geothermal using today's technology any deeper than 4.5 to five kilometres," says Petty, adding that temperatures of 225 C to 250 degrees C are needed. "You can do that in the west. But if you want to go east, you're looking at having to drill 6.5 to seven kilometres to get those temperatures."

These depths are quite common when it comes to oil and gas exploration. Altarock (Altarock Energy Inc., a company formed to develop “enhanced geothermal” generating stations using new technology primarily coming from the oil drilling industry), aims to apply the same skills to geothermal, and come up with a reliable and economical way of fracturing rock so geothermal power could be explored where it was once thought impossible, or too expensive.


Further geothermal energy and renewable power research:


Geothermal Power Stocks Investments

Renewable Power Stocks; Wind Energy Investing

Alternative Energy Megasite Environmental-Expert.com

About Environmental-Expert.com Renewable Power Portal

Environmental Expert connects over 500,000 environmental industry professionals from around the globe to over 13,000 companies that provide the products, services and information they need to do their job successfully.

Environmental Expert is more than just an online marketplace! Unlike other sites, the Environmental Expert portal contains an unmatched wealth of industry-related information and resources, like publications, events, articles, job postings, press releases & news, thus ensuring that professionals use Environmental Expert as a professional tool and keep coming back to stay in touch with what's happening in the industry.

We currently provide premium marketing services to over 1,300 companies in the industry by helping them promote their equipment, services, publications, events, and more to our industry-specific user base, the only online environmental industry community that truly spans the globe.

View this global alternative energy industry site here:

Directory of Environmental and Alternative Energy Companies

Check also:

Geothermal Power Companies and Websites

Energy Analysis: Carbon reduction policies to have widespread energy implications

Ten Insights on Carbon Policy and Its Implications

from: http://www.altenergystocks.com

On November 27, I attended the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Fifth Energy Analysis Forum, hosted by NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis & Applications Center. The forum focused on carbon policy design, the implications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. As a stock analyst focused on that sector, I am extremely lucky to have NREL as a local resource: the quality and the level of the experts at NREL and the ones they bring in is probably not matched anywhere in the country, and conferences like these provide priceless insights into what these Energy Analysts are thinking.

Why should investors care what analyst think about the best form of carbon regulation, when it will be the politicians who eventually implement it? Because these are the very experts politicians will call on when designing their legislation. While interest groups will also undoubtedly have a large say in regulation, they are unlikely to come up with new ideas which help shape future regulation. The new ideas will come from the 50 or so analysts that gathered in Lakewood last Tuesday, and the regulations based on these ideas will be critical to the business plans of the companies we invest in.

This is a link to my notes. I will likely find many investment ideas there, only some of which will make it into articles. For those with the time and interest, I expect they will be a valuable resource. For the other 99% of readers, here are ten interesting, intriguing, or just plain surprising ideas that pop out for me.

From Howard Gruenspecht, Deputy Administrator: Energy Information Administration

INSIGHT #1: "Clean Coal" is a Solution to a Political Problem

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (IGCC w/ CCS or "Clean Coal") is popular with legislators because it is a solution to a political problem, not because the technology is ready or because analysts expect it to be the most economical solution. Nuclear power is likely to be cheaper, and it is an existing technology.

INSIGHT #2: Electricity Generation may be a Better Use of Biomass than Liquid Fuels

If the goal is to reduce net carbon emissions, burning biomass for electricity (either by cofiring in coal power plants, or in dedicated biomass generation stations) is more effective than using the same biomass to produce liquid fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol. TK note: I believe that many investors in companies developing methods to produce cellulosic ethanol are underestimating the competition for available feedstock from biomass based electricity generation.

From Joe Kruger, Policy Director National Commission on Energy Policy

INSIGHT #3: Electricity Generators May Get Windfall Profits

Allocation of Emission Credits is likely to create windfall profits for existing generators except in carefully designed auctions.

From Eric Smith, EPA Climate Economics Branch.

INSIGHT #4: EPA May Have to Regulate More than Tailpipes

Because of the Massachusetts vs. EPA lawsuit, the EPA must now regulate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from automobile tailpipes. The EPA is now studying GHG, and if the EPA concludes that GHG represent an endangerment to the public, the EPA will be forced to regulate GHG emissions from many more sources than just vehicles.

From Rich Cowart, Regulatory Assistance Project

INSIGHT #5: It's Better to Allocate Credits to Electricity Distributors than Producers

Greenhouse Gasses need not be regulated at power generators, and other approaches may lead to more efficient reductions. Mr. Cowart was introduced as "Father of the Load-based Cap," in which GHG emissions are distributed to power distributors on behalf of their customers. Carbon regulation can occur anywhere from the mine/wellhead when a fossil fuel is first taken from the ground, to the final consumer. Where this regulation takes place matters because different actors have different abilities to change the way power is consumed. Mr. Cowart argues effectively that for the electricity and natural gas sectors, energy distribution companies are best placed to work with consumers to reduce overall energy use.

BONUS INSIGHT (my own): China Can Build Coal Plants, But We Can Cap Their Emissions

Worries about the number of coal plants built in China and other developing countries might be best dealt with by applying carbon regulation at the mine mouth. China is now a net coal importer. Given that, the rest of the world does not need China's acquiescence to regulate carbon emissions: the coal exporters of the world could form an Organization of Coal Exporting Countries (OCEC), which would effectively be able to limit the total amount of coal burned around the globe. The United States, which I have previously called the "Saudi Arabia of Coal," could play the role of the swing producer, much as Saudi Arabia has traditionally played in OPEC.

From Karl S. Michael, NYSERDA

From Karl S. Michael, NYSERDA

INSIGHT #6: Reggie Never Asked, "Where are GHGs best Regulated?"

The Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or "Reggie") will be an emissions cap on power plants because the question was never asked: are power plants the right place to regulate Greenhouse Gasses? Future climate regulations should ask this question up front.

Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute. I've long been a fan of Todd Litman. Among other things, his comprehensive economic analysis was very influential in providing the ideas for my recent articles Investing in Mode-shifting, and my current love affair with commuter rail stocks.

article continued at:

http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2007/12/ten_insights_on_carbon_policy_and_its_implications.html

By 2016, clean energy investments will be $750 billion annually

Fossil Fuels' Free Ride Is Over, By John Gartner

article from: http://www.ens-newswire.com

WASHINGTON, DC, November 30, 2007 (ENS) - A diverse group of investment bankers, energy executives, government officials and clean energy advocates has agreed that the environmental cost of producing energy should be factored into its price, and that Congress must develop energy policies that move away from fossil fuels.

At the American Council On Renewable Energy's fourth annual conference, which opened in Washington on Thursday, money managers on Wall Street, self-described conservatives, a Bush administration official, and energy company BP spoke as one, declaring that fossil fuels have gotten a free ride in emitting greenhouse gases, and that the day of reckoning is long overdue.

The conference is focused on influencing energy and environment policymaking at the national and international levels.

Katrina Landis, vice president of BP Alternative Energy said she is "looking forward to a world with an industry wide carbon price."

Landis, whose employer is one of the world's leading sellers of fossil fuels, said she favors a cap-and-trade system of selling emissions credits over a carbon tax.

Speaking at the conference hosted and sponsored by the House of Representatives, Landis agreed with many of the other speakers in calling on the Congress to craft more sustainable policies.

She supports a federal renewable portfolio standard that would require the purchase of a set percentage of renewable energy because "stopgap policies tend to increase cost."

The current process of one-to-three year incentives is frustrating consumers and producers of clean energy, she said.

Legislators should create bold programs for incentivizing the use of renewable energy such as California's solar initiative because "the effective policies have been the agressive ones," said Landis.

Congress is now moving forward with what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls "historic energy legislation that will reduce our dependence on foreign fuels and promote energy efficiency."

"We have made significant progress toward completing this package and hope to have a final agreement next week," Pelosi said Thursday. "This energy package will lay the groundwork for the Congress to move forward next year with comprehensive action to address climate change."

Vijay Vaithesswaran, who writes for "The Economist," says the United States must change its ways to set an example for the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Emerging nations cannot follow the United States' current path, he said.

Adapting a quote from Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi in a way that compared British imperialism to today's environmental challenges, Vaithesswaran said, "If every Chinese person used energy like an American" by driving an SUV, than "how many planets would we need" to sustain ourselves?

"We have to pay an honest price for energy," says Vaithesswaran, who supports free market economics.

He recommended that Congress create a revenue neutral carbon tax that would create as much revenue in the market as it extracts. Vaithesswaran did not recommend subsidies for cleaner energy such as biofuels, but instead called for an end to pro fossil fuel tax policies.

"It's not about adding subsidies but about leveling the playing field," said Vaithesswaran, who recommends taking away the multi-billion annual federal oil and gas subsidies.

Clean energy advocates should convince elected officials that promoting cleaner energy is not a risk to industry but an opportunity, said Janet Sawin, a senior researcher and director of the Energy and Climate Change Program at the Worldwatch Institute.

We "need to convince political leaders that renewable energy is about creating job opportunities," she said.

Sawin said that 2.5 milion jobs have been created worldwide in renewable energy.


Renewable energy is not only good for the environment, it is also good for investors, said John Cavalier, vice chairman of investment firm Credit Suisse.

He said the investment community is already planning for the cost of carbon emissions to be added to energy companies in the future. The "smart money is betting on a federal renewable portfolio standard," Cavalier said.

Cavalier said the United States is spending $1 billion per day in carbon-emitting oil, with much of it being spent on imported goods that take money out of the economy. Producing clean energy from wind and solar creates American jobs while also cleaning up the planet, he said.

By 2016, annual global investments in clean energy will be $750 billion, according to Cavalier. He said that there would be more investment if politicians could assist in creating stable demand for renewables.

Cavalier explained that many investors are not investing in clean energy because they "refuse to invest in an industry that depends on subsidies that are at the whim of [politicians]."

Renewable energy is a good bet for investors because the stock prices are less volatile than the rest of the market, said Michael Liebreich, chairman and chief executive of the clean energy investing information service New Energy Finance.

Politicians should stop treating clean energy as a "marginal industry" as it is becoming a key economic driver, he said. In 2007 approximately eight percent of all energy investment went to renewable energy, a figure that Liebreich expects will rise to 15 percent.

Caring about the planet is no longer polticially divisive was another key theme during speeches and conversations at the two-day conference. Instead of placing blame and trying to make it a partisan issue, Democrats and Republicans should find common ground in developing appropriate courses of action, speakers said.

Andy Karsner, an assistant secretary of energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, said that politicians and industry have clmate change "problem identification in spades, but not enough problem solving."

While defending the Bush adminstration for its recent progress on renewable energy - citing the President's "addicted to oil" mantra - Karsner called for more action on fuel economy and renewable fuels to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Karsner said the government's decoupling the price of oil from the price of renewable energy in purchasing energy is a "significant watermark," and encouraged more people inside and outside of the political process to become "agents of disruption."

He said that fuel economy options for vehicles - such as biofuels and hybrid motors - should be as ubiquitous and as readily available ad mud flaps."

This policy conference serves as a run-up to ACORE's next event, the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, WIREC 2008, in March, which will use the policy recommendations of this meeting to suggest more specific goals.

For more information, visit the American Council On Renewable Energy, ACORE, at: http://www.acore.org/phaseii/2007

Geothermal Power the next BIG THING!!!

article from: SeekingAlpha.com

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Geopowering the West Investors' Forum in Montrose, Colo. (hosted by the Delta-Montrose Electric Association, Colorado's most progressive Rural Electric Cooperative.) I've long been interested in geothermal stocks, and I first started adding them to managed portfolios in 2003. As a whole, those stocks have more than doubled in the one-four years since they were purchased.

Fundamental Advantages of Geothermal Electricity
Why did I make those first purchases? Geothermal power has some unique advantages over other forms of renewable energy.

* Geothermal is base load power. Utilities have a strong preference toward base load and dispatchable power generation (basically power which is always on, or power which they can turn on at will.) In fact, geothermal plants often have capacity factors of 86-95%, well above traditional base load generation such as coal. So geothermal power is a premium electricity because of its reliability. Until a recent fire (not caused by the geothermal facility), the plant installed last year at Chena Hot Springs in Alaska, was running at 99.4% availability.
* It is inexpensive. Depending on the resource, the price of geothermal power is comparable to that of wind power, new coal plants, or biomass. It is considerably less expensive than solar photovoltaic or nuclear power, or the cost projections for "Clean Coal," otherwise known as Internal Gasification Combined Cycle with carbon capture and sequestration. Using numbers presented at the conference, a geothermal power plant will cost $3-4 per rated watt but produce about five times as much electricity as a similarly rated (and more expensive) photoelectric panel because of the much higher capacity factor.
* Geothermal has a small environmental footprint. Where solar and wind farms gather energy over large areas, a geothermal plant gathers heat from the hot rock or fluids below ground by means of one or a few wells. Because of this, the footprint needs to be only the size of the turbines which actually generate the power, smaller than the footprint of a coal-fired plant generating the same amount of power, without the necessity of coal mining and without significant emissions of carbon dioxide or other pollutants.
* In the later life of a geothermal plant, operations produce excellent income streams. While the plants often require refurbishment, with careful management, geothermal reservoirs need not degrade over time, and net margins often exceed 60%.

New Developments
Why are people only now starting to talk about geothermal power?

* Geothermal electric is not a new industry. The first geothermal electric power plant was built in the 1920s. But now we have a maturing industry seeing progress in new technology. Not only can lower-temperature resources now be used, but United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) has recently introduced a low-temperature-capable generator based on proven water chiller technology. This has the potential to rapidly increase the speed and lower the cost of project development.
* There is a growing awareness of the need for carbon-free sources of power. The IGCC's and Al Gore's recent win of the Nobel Peace Prize is just one recent sign of this.
* The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed the regulatory environment. There is a new commitment from national government to simpler lease structures and royalty payments.
* Current projects typically developed over a three-year period, which is actually quite quick when compared with typical five-year lead times for coal plants.
* There exists an abundance of overlooked resources because of greater temperature reach. Historical studies assumed that electricity simply could not be generated below 300 F, but new technologies can handle temperatures below 200F, which geometrically increases the number of sites with potential for generation.
* Was seen as relatively small potential until the MIT Study which came out this year. Enhanced (aka Engineered) Geothermal Systems [EGS] hold out the promise that the extractable amount of energy is not limited by the resource size or availability. There is simply so much heat stored in the Earth's crust that only extracting a fraction of a percentage of it would allow us to meet our energy needs for the foreseeable future. While EGS holds out promise, the technologies needed still require significant research. From an investor's perspective, more concerned with the prospects for the next 10 years than the next 50 years, EGS is much more important for the interest it generates in geothermal than it is for investment opportunities. Nevertheless, in terms of meeting our long-term energy needs, I expect Enhanced Geothermal Systems to be a much cheaper and simpler solution than Carbon Sequestration from Coal plants.
* Geothermal as oil co-product. Many existing oil wells also bring up sizable quantities of water at temperatures sufficient to run small binary cycle turbines. While this resource at any one oil well is likely to be small (less than a megawatt), aggregating all the wells in a large oil field could produce significant power at low cost given that the costs of exploration and exploratory drilling need not be paid for by the geothermal electricity generated.

Tricks of the Trade
What does a geothermal investor need to watch out for?

* Exploration risks. Prospecting for geothermal resources using remote sensing and surface sampling is useful for defining the drilling target, but does not significantly reduce the risk of not finding a resource sufficient to produce power. This is in distinct contrast with oil prospecting, where prospecting significantly reduces risk.
* Risks to resources currently in use. Attendees were treated to a Jeep tour through the geothermal history of the town of Ouray. Over 20 years ago, the city started a series of test wells around the town with the hope of finding enough geothermal hot water for a district heating system, and to keep their Hot Springs Pool open year round. All did not go as planned, and three of the owners of springs around the city filed lawsuits against the city, charging that the city's drilling had reduced their flows. The parties settled, but the city was forced to discontinue drilling. While the city of Ouray officials did not admit to decreasing flow rates of other pools, after listening to both sides, I think the owners of the springs had real grievances (and the courts seemed to agree with that assessment.)
* Unexpected effects of new technology. One large potential problem is induced seismicity when trying to stimulate reservoirs in hot dry rock for EGS. One reason for an investor to consider geothermal development companies rather than geothermal equipment suppliers is that a company with a known geothermal resource will generally benefit from the evolution of technology, while a technology supplier could easily lose market share to competitors.
* A geothermal resource developer must be able to connect to the grid. No matter how hot the resource nor how close it is to the surface, the developer must be able to connect to the electric grid at a point where there is sufficient available capacity to sell the electricity. The ability to negotiate a Power Purchase Agreement with a local utility having a respectable credit rating will also enable the developer to gain access to financing on more favorable terms.
* Ownership of geothermal resources is legally complex. As the City of Ouray found in the dispute mentioned above, unless an owner has put a resource in use, they may find that a court of law will not uphold their ownership of that resource.
* Many of the future resources to be developed are likely to be "blind." That is, there is no surface indication of the hot rock below. Exploration for such resources is likely to be more lengthy and costly than past exploration.
* As with any industry, quality management and personnel will be able to find opportunity in a crisis, while less-able teams will be unable to exploit all the opportunities available.
* Skill in managing geothermal reservoirs is essential. Pumping a reservoir too quickly or reinjection of cool fluids in the wrong place can greatly reduce the production from geothermal reservoirs.
* Except when the developer plans to use less efficient and more expensive air cooling, the availability of low-temperature cooling water in sufficient quantities will be necessary to generate electricity.

Companies
Here is a short list of interesting companies involved in geothermal power production and some reasons you may want to consider them for investment.

* Ormat (NYSE:ORA). Ormat is the granddaddy of geothermal stocks. A vertically integrated company, they not only explore and develop their own resources, they also will contract to manage resources for other developers (such as US Geothermal's Raft River project). Their long history and current profitability gives them the safest pure-play geothermal stock available. They are experts with binary cycle turbines and reservoir management, as well as applying their binary cycle technology to waste heat recovery as well as concentrating solar power experiment.
* United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) is not really a geothermal company at all, but I include it because of its recent innovation in producing low-temperature binary cycle turbines on an assembly line basis, using an adaptation of their industrial chiller technology, for which they recently won a R&D 100 award. While this may never become a significant part of UTX's bottom line, it is likely to change the economics of geothermal development for the better. I also expect to see the PureCycle turbine applied to a myriad of waste heat applications, quite possibly more than to geothermal.
* Raser Technologies, (NYSEArca: RZ), Nevada Geothermal (OTC BB: NGLPF.OB, NGP.V) , US Geothermal (OTCBB: UGTH, GTH.TO), Sierra Geothermal (OTC: SRAGF, SRA.V), Polaris Geothermal (PGTHF.PK), and Western GeoPower Corp (WGPWF.PK, WGP.V) are geothermal developers. I find it very difficult to determine which will succeed and which will fail, and so prefer to own a little of each, buying when I feel the stocks are relatively inexpensive from a technical analysis standpoint. Raser is not a pure geothermal developer; they also develop high-performance electric motor technology, which is interesting to me, but the synergies are far from obvious.)

Geothermal has long been an underappreciated renewable energy technology. That seems to be changing, which will be an excellent thing both for our hope of moving to a less carbon-intensive economy, and for early investors in the sector.

New Australian PM Rudd to invest $900 mil in clean energy, ratify Kyoto

New Australian PM to ratify Kyoto

Kevin Rudd's landslide victory means Australia will soon ratify Kyoto, leaving the US more isolated than ever
BusinessGreen Staff, BusinessGreen, 26 Nov 2007
Sydney

Fresh from his landslide election victory, Kevin Rudd, Australia's new prime minister, has vowed to start work immediately on ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and implementing his pre-election promises to develop a low-carbon economy.

Concerns over climate change and Australia's failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol were attributed as key factors in Rudd's victory, which saw former prime minister John Howard lose his seat as his Liberal Party suffered its worst election defeat in its 63-year history.

Rudd is expected to now join the international climate change agreement as quickly as possible and also begin work on delivering Labor's proposed package of environmental measures aimed at cutting emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. These include a $500m Renewable Energy Fund, a $240m Clean Business Australia Fund designed to enhance energy and water efficiency and a $150m Energy Innovation Fund that will aim to address Australia's position as the world's worst per capita polluter.

The Labor victory also leaves the US administration more isolated than ever as world leaders prepare for the UN's conference in Bali, which is designed to begin work on finding a successor to the Kyoto Agreement.

Under John Howard, Australia had been the one developed economy to side with the US and refuse to ratify Kyoto, but with Rudd planning to attend the Bali conference and support plans for a successor to Kyoto, US negotiators can expect to face more pressure than ever before to sign up to an international agreement.

Global Alternative Energy ETF (GEX) Major Holdings

GEX seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Ardour Global IndexSM (Extra Liquid), AGIXLT. GEX provides targeted exposure to companies worldwide that are engaged in the alternative energy industry and trades with the same ease and liquidity of a common stock.


Top 10 Index Constituents

As of October 31, 2007

Stock Holding % of net assets
Vestas Wind Systems A/S ecVWS 13.94%
Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica S.A. eDGAM 7.70%
Renewable Energy Corp. ASA eoREC 7.41%
Q-Cells AG eiQCE 7.27%
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. ADS STP 6.09%
SolarWorld AG eiSWV 6.06%
First Solar Inc. FSLR 6.00%
SunPower Corp. Cl A SPWR 5.21%
Verbund AG ejVER 4.86%
Kurita Water Industries Ltd. jT6370 4.11%

Planet Ark says China moving from coal to renewable power

Investors Betting on China's Green Energy Race

Story by Gerard Wynn, PlanetArk.com

BEIJING - Beijing-based clean energy investors are enlisting foreign and local interest, as financiers show increasing faith in China's ability to meet tough goals to clean up its coal-based economy.

The China Environment Fund, for example, has just tapped foreign investors to top up its clean energy fund to US$250 million. It counts Beijing's Tsinghua University, famous for its engineers, as a significant shareholder.

China is in the spotlight for its much dirtier, coal-based power generation, with the country poised to overtake the United States as the world's number-one emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

High carbon-emitting coal still accounts for more than 70 percent of the country's power.

Earlier this week, Beijing gave a stark picture of the nation's ecological damage when it released the latest five-year plan for environmental protection. It vows to make polluters pay and urges officials to balance economic growth with environmental concerns.

Despite previous shortfalls in attaining its ecological goals, Beijing's new ambitious government targets, trail-blazing entrepreneurs, and China's low cost base have galvanised interest in technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels.

That renewable energy industry is now applying the same fast business culture that has seen China become the world's factory for everything from kettles to t-shirts.

"The result is what China is good at, finding things that work and cutting the price," said Chris Raczkowski, founder and managing director of renewable energy investors Azure International.

A clutch of Chinese companies have recently burst into the global solar power industry. Founded in 2001 and listed in 2005, Suntech now counts itself as a top-three solar cell maker, and its founder, Shi Zhengrong, is a billionaire, according to Forbes.

"That's a whole model that everyone aspires to," said Patrick Tam, general partner at the China Environment Fund.

Around 80 percent of Chinese solar power components are exported, say industry experts, because it's too expensive to compete in a market dominated by cheap coal-fired power.

But tariffs have made wind power attractive locally, and China has used that tempting market to nurture a manufacturing base with a rule that turbines are 70 percent made in China.

China is expected to pass its 2010 wind installation target this year as it moves towards a 2020 target for 8 percent of all power generating capacity to come from renewable sources, excluding big hydropower.

China's power generation is growing rapidly, but even applying that 2020 target conservatively to today's levels implies wind power equal to some two-thirds of the global total.

"What it's taken the world to do in the past 20 years, China will do in the next 10," said James Pennay, from the Beijing office of wind project developers IW Power.

Investors do have complaints, including an unclear premium for wind power, which depends on negotiation or competitive bids.

But Beijing's growing emphasis on tackling energy security and pollution concerns is filtering down to local officials who are increasingly keen on renewable and efficiency projects.

"We've noticed quite a significant change even in the last year," said Azure International's Raczkowski. (Reporting by Gerard Wynn, editing by Ken Wills)

Reno Harnish Outlines USA and Global Clean Energy Initiatives

Hydrogen Economy: Renewable Energy & The Future

Press Release: US State Department

Ambassador Reno Harnish
Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

Remarks at an International Symposium on Materials Issues in a Hydrogen Economy
Richmond, Virginia

November 13, 2007

Renewable Energy and the Future

It is a great pleasure for me to speak this evening to such a distinguished group of scientists and entrepreneurs. Your deliberations over the course of the week will help to accelerate the development of the hydrogen economy as proposed by the President in 2003.

We hope, similarly, to accelerate sharply the market adoption of clean, alternative, and renewable energy through our deliberations at the ministerial meeting March 4-6, 2008 of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, or WIREC.

I will speak about that in about 15 minutes, but first I will outline U.S. renewable energy policy. I will begin with an overview of our domestic program, then concentrate on the foreign policy aspects of renewable energy, including finance, market enabling initiatives, and project-based initiatives.

But before I start, let me apologize in advance for not being a bench scientist or principal investigator. My training was in what Thomas Carlyle calls "the dismal science" - economics. Some of you might be thinking now, "Oh great, he knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."

But seriously, I believe renewable energy will play a key part in U.S. energy and environmental policy, and I value it as an increasingly important energy source worldwide.

Domestic

We first set a good example here at home. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included over $14.5 billion in tax incentives designed to increase use of renewable fuels from 2005 to 2015.

Then, the Advanced Energy Initiative announced in President Bush's 2006 State of the Union accelerated advanced energy technologies, including the Solar America Initiative, the Biomass/Biofuels Initiative, and the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. By investing in these and other technologies, AEI will allow us to alter the way we power our homes and automobiles within 20 years.

Of course, you are contributing to these goals with your discussion this week of the hydrogen economy. President Bush announced his $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative in the 2003 State of the Union Address.

The goal was to reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells -- a way to power cars, trucks, homes, and businesses that produces no pollution and no greenhouse gases.

In addition to his Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, in his 2007 State of the Union Address, the President outlined his Twenty in Ten plan, which aims to reduce U.S. dependence on imported petroleum, promote use of alternative fuels, and improve U.S. energy efficiency and infrastructure.

Twenty in ten will increase the supply of renewable and alternative fuels by setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017. This is nearly five times the 2012 target now in law. In 2017, this will displace 15 percent of projected annual gasoline use.

We are focused on next generation biofuels technologies such as cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass and other non-food stocks. In addition to U.S. Department of Agriculture funding of $500 million per year, in 2007 the Department of Energy announced nearly $1 billion in funding for biofuels research and development.

As you can see, investment in renewable energy technologies is a very important component of the nearly $3 billion annual investment the United States makes in our climate change technology program.

Foreign and Finance

The President's plan calls for America's global leadership to encourage our friends and allies to consider similar renewable energy policies. And they are. According to a recent study by the United Nations Environment Program, investments in renewable energy reached a record $71 billion in 2006 - a 43 percent increase over 2005. A similar growth trajectory is expected this year.

While the U.S. and E.U. together accounted for more than 70% of this investment in 2006, there is growing activity in the developing world, especially in China, India and Brazil.

Chinese companies, in fact, are the second largest recipients of venture capital in 2006 after the United States. Last year, India was the largest net buyer of renewable energy companies abroad, mostly in European markets. And Brazil is the largest renewable energy market in the world. More than 75% of Brazil's cars are flex-fuel.

Recognizing the global nature and the serious challenge of these issues, the United States works collaboratively with nations across the globe.

Active initiatives and partnerships are identifying solutions by reducing greenhouse gas intensity, creating new investment, building local capacity, and removing barriers to the introduction of cleaner technologies. They are examples of transformational diplomacy in action.

Transformational Diplomacy is the term Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has used to describe America's foreign policy.

What she means by this is our goal is to, and I quote: "work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people -- and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.

One of the most dynamic ways in which we can achieve our transformational foreign policy vision is through the transformational energy climate in the world today.

President Bush addressed that climate when he spoke in September at the Major Economies meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change. He said: "Energy security and climate change are two of the great challenges of our time...the world's response will help shape the future of the global economy and the condition of our environment for generations to come."

The latter part of this statement is an important point, because energy policy and economic development are inherently linked; energy is a fundamental driver of development. Access to energy and energy services boosts crop production, drives industry, creates jobs, lights schools, and provides power to health facilities.

For less developed countries in particular, energy is a key enabler of growth. But it can be a hindrance to growth if it is not available, or only available at high prices. As we strive to help countries develop, we must help them reduce energy poverty.

We also know that cleaner, more efficient energy benefits the environment. U.S. energy policy seeks to enhance energy conservation and efficiency, and to diversity energy sources and diversify energy fuel types, which is where renewable energy comes in.

Partnerships

I want to briefly describe a number of these initiatives and partnerships to illustrate how we're advancing the use of clean, alternative, and renewable energy and changing the political environment to tackle greenhouse gas emissions by sharing technologies and best practices, and by encouraging more investment in renewable energy around the globe.

Some renewable energy initiatives change the environment for market adoption. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a premier international source of energy analysis and policy recommendations.

The International Energy Agency offers a range of activities to help encourage the adoption of best practices in energy policy, including renewable energy.

A second initiative I want to mention is The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP). This partnership was launched at Gleneagles in 2005 by the G-8 plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

The Global Bioenergy Partnership is designed to power a cleaner future by supporting wider, cost-effective biomass and biofuels deployment, particularly in developing countries where biomass use is prevalent.

The United States is actively supporting the Partnership's work, including leading work on developing common methodologies for measuring the greenhouse gas benefits of biofuels.

A third valuable partnership is The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). This is a multi-stakeholder partnership whose goal is to expand the global market for renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies by structuring policy and regulatory initiatives for clean energy and facilitating financing for energy projects.

To date, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership has funded over 100 projects in 44 countries that address market barriers to clean energy in the developing world and economies in transition.

Finally, in the category of initiatives to change the enabling environment for renewable energy is The International Biofuels Forum (IBF). The International Biofuels Forum is a joint project of Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission that was launched in March of 2007 to develop strategies to promote the sustained use and production of biofuels around the globe.

IBF is working closely with Global Bioenergy Partnership to create common standards and codes for bioenergy products, to consolidate and facilitate world trade.

In addition to changing the enabling environment, the U.S. government also pursues project-oriented initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions directly. Let me mention four of them.

The first is The Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M). Methane to Markets is an initiative that promotes energy security, improves environmental quality, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world.

Capturing and using "waste" methane provides an additional energy source that stimulates economic growth while reducing global emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas.

The United States, led by the State Department, has committed up to $53 million for the first five years of the Partnership. EPA estimates that this Partnership could recover up to 500-billion cubic feet of natural gas (183 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) annually by 2015.

The second project-oriented initiative is The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP). This Partnership brings together seven major Asia-Pacific countries -- Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Canada, and the United States -- in an effort to address increased energy needs and the associated issues of air pollution, energy security, and climate change.

An innovative public-private sector effort, the Asia-Pacific Partnership was established to promote economic development, reduce poverty, and accelerate the development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient technologies.

What makes the approach unique is that Asia-Pacific Partnership activities are identified and supported using an innovative "bottom up" approach. By focusing on concrete knowledge and technology transfer, the 110 individual projects and activities included in the APP Task Force action plans are already yielding concrete results

Together, Asia-Pacific partner countries account for about half of the world's economic output, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Partnership provides the U.S. a unique opportunity to engage India and China in constructively moving their energy economies toward a more climate friendly direction.

The Asia-Pacific Partnership has created eight task forces to achieve the initiative's goals: One of these task forces works on renewable energy and distributed power generation.

Let me cite four examples where the State Department is currently providing cost-share funding to accelerate renewable energy use in India. We will:

Accelerate the commercialization of a solar photovoltaic(PV) system in 4 Indian states by working with local business and banks;

* Deploy a pilot one mega watt PV power plant with the Tata Group;

* Identify and remove technical barriers to the deployment of renewable energy in three Indian states through a project involving US and Indian regulators and utilities;

* Promote biomass and biogas power generation systems in rural areas of Central India.

* A third initiative: through the Agency for International Development, the U.S. government is collaborating with a number of nations on a number of renewable energy projects - from a wind mapping initiative in Pakistan to rebuilding hydropower facilities in Afghanistan to studies on the expansion of bio-diesel for transportation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Finally, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) issued this summer a Greenhouse Gas/Clean Energy Initiative.

This initiative is a four-part plan to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and increase support for clean energy and green technology. OPIC will (1) reduce the direct greenhouse gas emissions associated with projects within the OPIC active portfolio by 20 percent over a ten-year period.

They will also (2) cap transactional emissions, (3) support energy efficiency, renewable and clean technology, and (4) enhance accounting and transparency.

WIREC

In closing, I would like to speak to you about something dear to my heart. In March of 2008, the United States will host in Washington, DC the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 - WIREC.

WIREC will be the third global ministerial level event on renewable energy and will be an important opportunity for world ministers to show their commitment to renewable energy. The ministers will discuss how renewable energy advances our shared goals for increasing sustainable development and energy security while addressing the global challenge of climate change.

The United States is well positioned to host such an event, as I've mentioned America is a major producer of renewable energies such as biofuels, and we are a principal developer of many renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind energy and battery. The U.S. is also a substantial marketplace for renewable energy industries globally.

WIREC 2008 will provide an opportunity to advance renewable energy even more by bringing world leaders together to raise issues, exchange information, share experiences and best practices, and provide a global platform to highlight and promote strategies for significant development and adoption of renewable energy systems worldwide, including second generation biofuels.

Worldwide, enthusiasm for renewable energy has increased dramatically since the previous international renewable energy conferences - in Beijing, China in 2005 and Bonn, Germany in 2004. Oil prices have reached nearly $95 per barrel and there is an emerging price for carbon. Nations now more fully recognize the imperative to promote widespread adoption of renewable energy.

Together, the countries of the globe are responsible for collectively promoting energy security through long-term solutions that address the challenge of maintaining sufficient, affordable, and reliable energy supplies, while at the same time fostering sustainable global economic growth and environmental stewardship.

Let me repeat that: sustainable economic growth and environmental stewardship.

As Theodore Roosevelt said: "To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust land instead of using it to enhance its usefulness...will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed."

I believe growing economies and sustainable resources can be complementary, not competing interests. I believe renewable energy is the key to the success of both these interests. And I believe that when we achieve the success of sustainable energy and thriving global economies, we'll have taken a big step toward our foreign policy vision to help citizens of the world "better their own lives, build their own nations, and transform their own futures."

Released on November 26, 2007

Sustainable Power (SSTP) in clean fuels JV with Blue Harbor Energy

NATCHEZ, MS -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 11/30/07 -- Sustainable Power Corp. (PINKSHEETS: SSTP) is proud to announce a reached agreement of a new project named Green Energy Consortium (GEC) based in Baytown, Texas. This agreement is to use SSTP's technology of the conversion of agricultural recycled feedstock to a variety of Green-based products that will produce biocrude, biogasoline, pharmaceutical grade glycerin and 500 megawatts of green power.

Imagine multiple types of fuels that are derived from the same feed stocks as cellulosic ethanol like grass, sugar cane, and corn stover; soy hulls but contain at least 300% more energetic content and are made by a process that uses 90% less energy. Unlike cellulosic ethanol, these fuels can be distributed by using existing oil pipelines, rather than uneconomical trucks and trains, dispensed through existing gas stations, rather than specialized pumps, and used in existing engines, rather than modified "flex-fuel" engines. In short, these are biofuels that can be substituted directly and immediately for gas or diesel on a gallon-for-gallon basis.

Sustainable Power Corp. (SPC) announced today that it has entered into a co-development agreement with Blue Harbor Energy, Inc. (Blue Harbor) to move forward its Baytown, Texas renewable fuel production and renewable energy electricity production facility. The Baytown project in envisioned to bring together SPC's propriety liquid biofuel generation and refining technology with electric power generation and a concrete plant to create a facility that produces liquid fuel suitable for use in current internal combustion engines, electric power that is generated solely from renewable sources and concrete that is produced using green power. Capacities and outputs for each phase of the operation are not yet final.

"We have been proposed financing offers for the project from undisclosed parties and expect more to come," stated Keith Mazer, President of Sustainable Power Corp. Mr. Mazer continued, "This is a monumental project and we're very excited to see the interest and confidence shown by some of the industry's largest capital investment groups. The world is in desperate need of green fuel and energy and we now have the ability to meet that need."

Under the terms of the agreement Blue Harbor will begin work immediately to work with SPC senior management to complete the development work necessary for securing the equity investment into the project. No time frame was announced for completion of this initial phase.

Texas was chosen by Sustainable Power because of its industrial and oil friendly environment. The Baytown property has rail, truck, pipeline and power grid access on site and barge access only a few miles down the road to support our feedstock needs.

Mr. Mazer stated, "We are pleased to have Blue Harbor as part of our team, and look forward to working with them."

"We have looked at this project and are excited about a renewable energy power generation of this magnitude," said Dr. White of Blue Harbor Energy, a co-development company. "We are looking forward to working with Mr. Mazer and the SPC team to finalize the development effort and bringing the project online as quickly as possible to realize its reduction of GHG and positive environmental impact."

About Sustainable Power Corp.

Sustainable Power Corp. is an international green energy service provider focused on environmentally safe power generation. The company has the exclusive rights to develop and manage a portfolio of green power plants utilizing the USSEC biofuel discovery, a renewable fuel source able to be produced from one-fifth of the soybean acreage traditionally associated with biodiesel. For more information please visit www.sustainablepower.com.

About Blue Harbor Energy, Inc.

Blue Harbor Energy is the energy project co-development company which provides management, technical management, commercial back-office and contract negotiation services to energy project developers. For additional information contact Dr. Jeff White at white@blueharborenergy.com

Google (GOOG) launches RE < C, funding clean power

RE < C (Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal)

Clean and affordable energy is a growing need for our company, so we’re excited about launching RE < C, a strategic initiative whose mission is to develop electricity from renewable sources cheaper than electricity produced from coal. Initially, this project to create renewable energy cheaper than coal will focus on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, and enhanced geothermal systems – but we’ll explore other potential breakthrough technologies too.

We’re busy assembling our own internal research and development group and hiring a team of engineers and energy experts tasked with building 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. (That’s enough electricity to power a city the size of San Francisco.) Google’s R&D effort will begin with a significant effort on solar thermal technology, and will also investigate enhanced geothermal systems and other areas.

Supporting Breakthrough Technologies

In conjunction with the RE < C major research and development initiative, Google.org will make strategic grants and investments in organizations working to produce renewable energy at a cost below that of coal-fired power plants.

Google.org is already working with two innovative corporations who are building potentially breakthrough technologies, and we look forward to collaborating with other members of the renewable energy field, including companies, R&D laboratories, and universities.

eSolar Inc. specializes in solar thermal power. Solar thermal technology replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with heat produced from solar energy, and has great potential to produce utility-scale power that is cheaper than coal.

Makani Power Inc. is developing high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies aimed at harnessing the world’s most powerful wind resources. Capturing just a fraction of available high-energy wind would be sufficient to supply current global electricity needs.

Google's Green Commitment

This current initiative is just the next step in Google’s continuing commitment to a clean and green energy future. We have been working hard on energy efficiency and making our business environmentally sustainable.

Last spring we announced that we would be carbon neutral for 2007 and beyond, and we’re on track to meet this goal. We’ve taken concrete steps to reduce our carbon footprint and accelerate improvements in green technology. For example, through design improvements and the adoption of power-saving technologies, such as evaporative cooling, we have made great strides to bolster the efficiency of our data centers – the facilities that store the computers that enable Google to deliver accurate search results at lightning speed. We’ve also reduced the carbon footprint of our building and office operations - for example, by replacing incandescent bulbs with higher-efficiency lighting, and maximizing the use of natural light. And earlier this year we flipped the switch at our Mountain View headquarters on one of the largest corporate solar panel installations in the United States.

In addition to “greening” our own business, we’re also cooperating with members of the tech community to improve efficiency on a broader scale. In 2007, we teamed with Intel and other industry partners to form the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a group which advocates the design and adoption of less wasteful computing infrastructure. (In November 2007, CSCI achieved a new milestone when we signed on our very first public sector partners, the state governments of Minnesota and Kansas.)

FT report: Alternative Energy Investing reaching record levels

Green technology investment soaring!!!

By Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, and Kevin Allison in San Francisco

Financial times Report

This year will be another record-breaking year for venture capital investment in “clean” technologies, according to a new analysis of the market.

Nick Parker, chairman of the Cleantech Group of analysts, said: “There is no doubt this year will break records in terms of the amount invested. But this year will also be notable for the amount of commercial take-up of clean technologies.”

Last year, more than $4bn (£1.9bn) of venture capital was invested in environmental technologies such as renewable energy, water technologies and carbon reduction technologies. The sector is now the biggest recipient of venture capital funds in the US, and in the first three quarters alone about $3.8bn of venture capital was invested, Mr Parker said.

Such large flows of capital are now pouring into clean technology in response to record high energy prices and governments’ perceived willingness to regulate carbon. Total investment, not just venture capital, in “clean” or low-carbon technology reached $74bn last year, according to Michael Liebreich, founder of New Energy Finance, a consultancy.

But investment in clean technology is heavily dependent on politics. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, a venture capital group focused on clean tech start-ups, says: “Policy is absolutely important in the clean-tech space. The traditional businesses have strong political forces in play. Somebody has to educate Washington.”

Mr Parker agrees: “Politically, the big shift is in recognising that the market will respond if they send the right signals. But there is a sense in the business world that there is no going back now [for politicians]. This is a one-way bet.”

Al Gore’s announcement on Monday that he had been made a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the Silicon Valley venture capital company that helped to fuel the internet boom in the 1990s, illustrated the link between politics and investment in this sector.
In most countries, renewable energy is not competitive with conventional sources such as coal-fired power without government support in the form of subsidies, fixed energy prices or regulations mandating a certain amount of electricity should come from renewable sources.
As conventional energy prices rise, however, clean technologies become more competitive, as companies and consumers are financially driven to look for alternatives.

Companies investing in clean technology have been keen supporters of carbon-restricting policies.

“We strongly advocate a price on carbon,” said John Doerr, partner at KPCB. “Policy matters enormously and it’s woven into every part of our worldwide energy economy and for good reasons.”

Clean technology investors are also awaiting the outcome of a meeting of the world’s leading climate scientists who have been discussing the key messages on the state of the world’s climate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of the world’s climate experts convened by the United Nations, is meeting in the Spanish city of Valencia to distil its work over the past six years into 30 important findings to be presented to policymakers tomorrow.
This will be in time for them to digest the information before a crucial United Nations meeting on climate change in Bali in December.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Insider buys shares of ethanol maker GPRE

Ethanol Manufacturer Green Plains Renewable Energy: Stock (GPRE) Climbs as Director Buys In

Ethanol company Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) has been on a tremendous run since its IPO at $10. Right now the stock is sitting at $41.50 with a 52-week range of 21.60 - 49.50.

The company as of now doesn’t produce any ethanol but is in the process of building an ethanol plant in Iowa. Updated pictures on its website show that the construction process has begun.

On April 27th, one of its Directors, Wayne Hoovestol, purchased 1500 shares for $42.17 for a total price of $63,255. This stock is worth keeping an eye on near term.

from SeekingAlpha.com, by Himanshu Pandya

Best of SolarIntell.com – Clean Energy Investing, November 1st to 15th

Alternative Energy Investing, Renewable Energy Stocks, Green Investments

Please use the links below to find the Alternative Energy Investing Information you require. These links provide green power technology news, renewable energy investing, solar power stocks, wind energy turbines, alternative power investments, home solar kits, renewable energy investments, wind systems for farms and cottages, home generators, photovoltaic solar panels, wind energy projects, solar energy for the home, alternative energy investing, renewable power products, clean fuels, solar power as a peace technology, solar energy stocks and clean power funds.



Directory of Solar Energy Information On the Web

Investing in Wind Energy - Directory of Windpower Companies Online

Clean Vehicle Technology – Green Cars and Mass Transit Directory

Alternative Energy / Green Power Investing Directory

Directory of Solar Electric / Photovoltaic Power Manufactures

Guide to Investing in Recycling Technology Companies

Guide to Investing in Geothermal Energy Companies

Directory of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Companies

Energy Storage, Backup Power and Flywheel Stocks

Conservation and Energy Efficiency Investments

Guide to Wind Energy, Solar, Hydro and other Green Power Firms

Directory of Biofuel, Ethanol and Biomass Stocks

Alternative Energy / Green Power Investing Directory - Top Firms

Renewable Energy Investment - Guide to Leading Companies

Acorn Factor (OTC Bulletin Board: ACFN ) specializes in funding and accelerating the growth of emerging ventures that promise meaningful improvements in the economic and environmental efficiency of the energy sector.

Advanced Energy Systems (ASX: AES ) operates a number of renewable power plants in Australia and has installed many systems on an international level. Our company is active in renewable energy power plant design and operation in many countries, and we are working closely with power utilities in Asia, East Asia and the USA delivering a high standard of renewable energy power plant that maximises project benefits.

Alternative Fuel Systems (2004) (CDNX:AFX.V)
AFS (2004) is a Canadian company providing innovative and cost-effective solutions to the growing global problem of harmful exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines. AFS (2004) has commercialized electronic engine management systems enabling internal combustion engines to operate on a variety of fuels. The Company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol AFX.

Aquentium, Inc. (OTCBB:AQNM) operates as a diversified holding company with interests in food safety, wastewater treatment, low income housing, emergency and disaster relief housing, telecommunications, alternative energy, and recycling. The company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the development and construction of disaster-relief housing model units; and research and development for manufacturing and marketing of solar energy panels.

CECO Environmental Corp. (NasdaqGM:CECE) CECO Environmental Corp. is North America's largest independent air pollution control company. Through its seven subsidiaries -- Busch, CECOaire, CECO Filters, CECO Abatement Systems, kbd/Technic, Kirk & Blum and H. M. White, Inc. -- CECO provides a wide spectrum of air quality services and products including: industrial air filters, environmental maintenance, monitoring and management services, and air quality improvement systems. CECO is a full-service provider to the steel, military, aluminum, automotive, ethanol, aerospace, semiconductor, chemical, cement, metalworking, glass, foundry and virtually all industrial process industries.

Central Vermont Public Service Corp (NYSE: CV)(Cenral Vermont) engages in the purchase, production, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Vermont, the United States. It also invests in wind energy projects in the United States and the United Kingdom; and engages in the sale or rental of electric water heaters to customers in Vermont and New Hampshire. The company sells electricity to the residential, commercial, and industrial customers. As of December 31, 2005, it served approximately 151,000 customers.

Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) through its subsidiaries, provides waste and energy services in the United States. It develops, owns, and operates infrastructure for the conversion of energy-from-waste, waste disposal, and renewable energy production.

Diversa Corporation (NASDAQ: DVSA) engages in the discovery and development of protein-based products, such as enzymes and antibodies by applying its proprietary genomic technologies. The company focuses its integrated portfolio of technologies on the discovery, evolution, and production of molecules with agricultural, industrial, and chemical applications, such as enzymes, as well as optimized antibodies with pharmaceutical applications. Its primary areas of focus for internal product development comprise alternative fuels, specialty industrial processes, and health and nutrition.

Energy Quest, Inc (OTCBB:EQST ) Energy Quest through its subsidiaries, Syngas International Corp. and Syngas Energy Corp., is an emerging leader in the development and marketing of low-cost alternate fuels worldwide.

Essex Corporation (NASDAQ: KEYW) provides signal processing, image processing, information processing, information assurance, and engineering innovations for the U.S. Government intelligence and defense customers. It provides processing solutions using optical, optoelectronic, and software technology within the five business areas: Signal Processing, Image Processing, Information Processing, Information Assurance, and Engineering Innovations. The company’s Signal Processing solutions include integrated signal processing solutions, advanced optical signal processors, radar signal processors, and communications and networks. Its Image Processing business includes 3-D imaging and geographic information systems. The company’s Information Processing business includes cognitive processing and critical information infrastructure services. Essex Corporation’s Information Assurance business includes information and network security solutions, as well as information warfare. Its Engineering Innovations include embedded systems, and engineering design, development, and deployment.

Ecotality, Inc. (OTCBB:ETLY ) is a technology innovator that leverages global R&D resources to develop and commercialize renewable energy technologies, specifically aimed at addressing today's global energy challenges. Through strategic partnerships, ECOtality applies scientific knowledge and creates proprietary green energy technologies.

Fuel-Tech N.V. (NASDAQ: FTEK) engages in the air pollution control and specialty chemical businesses. The company primarily focuses on the worldwide marketing and sale of nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction and FUEL CHEM processes. Its NOx reduction technologies include the NOxOUT, NOxOUT CASCADE, and NOxOUT SCR processes, which reduce NOx emissions in flue gas from boilers, incinerators, furnaces, and other stationary combustion sources. The FUEL CHEM product line uses chemical processes for the control of slagging, fouling, corrosion, and for plume abatement in furnaces and boilers through the addition of chemicals into the fuel or by targeted in-furnace injection. The company distributes its fuel treatment chemicals through direct sales force and agents to industrial and utility power-generation facilities.

Global Environmental Energy Corp (OTCBB: GEECF) is pursuing sales and partnership opportunities using the Biosphere Process™ System, a unique licensed proprietary technology, which supplies energy through an efficient and environmentally safe process. The Biosphere Process™ System, can safely and efficiently processes traditional and non-traditional waste materials into electricity and other beneficial by-products.

Green Environmental Technologies Inc. (TSX: GEI.V)

Headwaters Incorporated (NYSE: HW) through its subsidiaries, provides products, technologies, and services to the energy and construction materials industries in the United States. It operates in three segments: Construction Materials, Coal Combustion Products, and Alternative Energy. Construction Materials segment designs, manufactures, and markets shutters, gable vents, mounting blocks and tools, and architectural manufactured stones. Coal Combustion Products segment markets coal combustion products, such as fly ash and bottom ash to the building products and ready mix concrete industries. Alternative Energy segment develops catalyst technologies to convert coal and heavy oil into liquid fuels, as well as nanocatalyst processes and applications.

HLT Energies (TSX.V:HES) produces, operates and distributes renewable energy as well as renewable energy production equipment harnessing sustainable energy sources. Particularly, HLT harnesses solar thermal energy. With its equipment, HLT utilizes the full potential of these energy sources, hence creating stable energy as well as important and stable revenues.

HTC Purenergy (CDNX: HTC.V) is the commercial business name of Saskatchewan, Canada based HTC Hydrogen Technologies Corp., an energy technology company that is commercializing CO2 capture/storage technologies for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and is developing and commercializing hydrogen production, and bio-fuel technologies.

International Power Group, Ltd. (OTCBB: IPWG), a provider of solid waste management and renewable energy solutions

Laidlaw Energy Group (OTCPK: LLEG) is engaged in the development of independent power plants that generate electricity from renewable resources. LLEG's mission is to build and manage a profitable portfolio of renewable energy facilities through development, acquisition, conversion of existing facilities and through partnering with manufactures that have significant electric and thermal needs.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) operates as a wholesale power generation company in the United States. It engages in the ownership and operation of power generation facilities, and marketing and trading of energy, capacity, and related products. The company’s facilities consist primarily of baseload, intermediate and peaking power generation facilities, and thermal energy production and energy resource recovery plants. As of December 31, 2005, NRG Energy had interests in a portfolio of 235 operating generation units at 61 power generation plants, with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 24,580 megawatts.

Plasma Environmental Technologies (TSX:PE.V) Plasma Environmental Technologies Inc. ("PET") is a Canadian public company that develops and markets plasma-based systems for the safe and cost-effective destruction of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. PET is listed on the TSE Venture Exchange (trading symbol: PE). PET is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

PetroSun (OTCPK:PSUD) is a diversified energy company specializing in the discovery and development of both traditional fossil fuels and renewable energy resources

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (AMEX: PBW) Seeks to mirror the performance of WilderHill Index (www.Wildershares.com ), which tracks the Clean Energy sector.

QuestAir Technologies Inc. (AIM: QAR; TSX: QAR) is a developer and supplier of proprietary gas purification systems for several large international markets, including existing markets such as oil refining, biogas production and natural gas processing, and emerging markets such as fuel cell power plants and fuel cell vehicle refueling stations.

REG Technologies Inc (CDNX: RRE.V) is testing now a new engine capable of using 6 different types of fuel (including green ethanol) and the efficiency is more than 30% as opposed with a regular engine which is about 4%.

Renewable Energy Resources, Inc., (OTCBB: RENW) is an alternative energy company developing and acquiring technologies that create energy and fuel from previously untapped sources. RENW specializes in renewable sources of alternative fuels as well as its core low flow hydro technology, the Energy Commander Technology.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-B) operates as an energy company worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Gas and Power, Oil Products, and Chemicals. Exploration and Production segment engages in the upstream activities of acquiring, exploring, developing, and producing oil and gas. This segment searches for and recovers oil and natural gas primarily in Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Egypt, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Gas and Power segment liquefies and transports natural gas. It also markets and trades natural gas and electricity, and converts natural gas to liquids to provide clean fuels. Oil Products segment refines crude oil into various products, including fuels, lubricants, and petrochemicals; and markets the refined products for domestic, industrial, and transportation use.Chemicals segment produces and sells petrochemicals that are used in the manufacture of plastics, coatings, and detergents to industrial customers. In addition, the company develops renewable sources of energy, including wind and solar power, and hydrogen energy.

Siemens, headquartered in Berlin and Munich, is one of the world’s largest electrical engineering and electronics companies. Siemens provides innovative technologies and comprehensive know-how to benefit customers in 190 countries. Founded more than 150 years ago, the company is active in the areas of Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Power, Transportation, Medical, and Lighting.

Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd (CDNX: STG.V) develops manufactures and markets advanced power inverters for the renewable energy industry. Power inverters are strategic to the integration of new renewable energy technologies - solar and wind power, fuel cells, and energy storage systems - into the high quality power demands of the modern electrical grid.

Tersus Energy (LSE.MCCE.L) (London) Tersus Energy Plc is building three operating businesses in:
Asian Renewables (TAR); Bioenergy (TBE); Energy Controls (TEC).

World Energy (TSX: XWE) operates leading online exchanges for energy and energy-related products. Our proven approach provides market intelligence, promotes liquidity, and creates price transparency for all market participants, enabling our customers to transact with confidence and to seek the best possible price. To date, the company has transacted over 32 billion kwh of electricity, 500 million kwh of green power and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and one trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Zoltek Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) through its wholly owned subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, marketing, and development of carbon fibers for various applications. The company manufactures and sells carbon fibers, which are used as the primary building material in commercial products; filament winding and pultrusion equipment for the production of composite parts; and technical fibers for aircraft brake and other friction applications.

info from:

http://www.renewableenergystocks.com

XsunX gets $1mil deposit on $21 mil investment

XsunX, Inc. Secures $21 Million Financing Commitment

Structure Provides Flexibility to Initiate Company's Planned 100 Megawatt Thin Film Solar Module Production Facility Build Out


ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XsunX, Inc. , announced today that it has secured a total of $21,000,000 in financing with Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC, a Chicago-based institutional investor, to support the launch of its phased plans to build a 100 megawatt amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module manufacturing facility.

Over the course of 2007, the Company designed a proprietary 25 megawatt TFPV solar module manufacturing system, and developed a phased plan to build and install four of these systems by 2010. XsunX then worked with industry proven and recognized vendors to ensure access to materials and components necessary to meet build schedules under its phased plan.
Next, XsunX solicited proposals from over twenty states to ensure that the Company benefited from establishing its new manufacturing facilities in a region providing strong business incentives and an educated workforce. After a review of all submitted proposals, XsunX made a decision to locate their multi-megawatt manufacturing facilities in the State of Oregon, USA. This decision was based on a combination of operating incentives and credits, added to low cost financing opportunities, submitted by the State of Oregon.

XsunX then worked to introduce the design and future availability of its XASI-120 solar module to the solar installation industry at key trade shows. These efforts have resulted in over 90 megawatts of module pre-manufacture reservations. Finally, the Company set out to select a strong investment partner and the right investment structure to finance the first stages of the planned build out of its TFPV manufacturing facilities.

Mr. Tom Djokovich, XsunX's CEO, stated, "We owed our investors a well defined plan leveraging a solid mix of key employees, premier vendors, government support, and access to working capital under the best terms, without the burden of unnecessary debt instruments found in many financing agreements. I believe that taking the time to put all of the pieces in place was crucial to providing XsunX the best opportunity for success. One of the last aspects to our plan was to find a solid financing partner that was interested in our business. We looked at quite a few term sheets and, in selecting Fusion Capital, I believe that we found the support we needed on the terms that work best for all of our investors."

Upon signing the stock purchase agreement, XsunX received $1,000,000 from Fusion Capital as an initial purchase of common stock under the $21 million commitment, at a price of $.30 per share. After the SEC has declared effective a registration statement related to the transaction, the Company has the right, over a 25-month period, to sell its shares of common stock to Fusion Capital, from time to time, in amounts up to $1 million per sale, depending on certain conditions as set forth in the stock purchase agreement, up to the full aggregate commitment of $21 million.

The purchase price of the shares related to the $20 million balance of future funding will be based on the prevailing market prices of the Company's shares at the time of sales without any fixed discount, and the Company will control the timing and amount of any sales of shares to Fusion Capital. There are no negative covenants, restrictions on future fundings, penalties or liquidated damages in the agreement. The common stock purchase agreement may be terminated by XsunX at any time at its discretion without any additional cost to XsunX.
The proceeds received by the Company under the common stock purchase agreement are expected to be used to build an initial base production system delivering full size commercial quality solar modules, and initiate the manufacture of the first of four (4) planned 25 megawatt systems under the Company's planned 100 megawatt thin film solar module production facility. Proceeds may also be used to lease and prepare manufacturing facilities with the necessary support systems for the manufacturing line, inventory, staff, and general working capital.
A more detailed description of the agreement is set forth in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K recently filed with the SEC which the Company encourages be reviewed carefully.

About XsunX

Based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., XsunX is developing and commercializing new thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell technologies and manufacturing processes to service expanding global energy demands. The Company has made plans to build a multi-megawatt solar module production facility in the United States to meet the growing demand for solar cell products used in large scale commercial projects, utility power fields, and other on-grid applications. Employing a phased roll out of production capacity, XsunX is initiating plans to grow its TFPV solar module manufacturing capacities to over 100 megawatts.

About Fusion Capital

Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC is an institutional investor based in Chicago, Illinois with a fundamental investment approach. Fusion Capital invests in a wide range of companies and industries emphasizing life sciences, energy and technology companies. Its investments range from special situation financing to long-term strategic capital.