Renewables and Alternative Energy - Energy and Capital

Utility Scale Solar Technology Heating Up

Utility scale solar got a big boost this week as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a new plan to designate 24 tracts of public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as study areas for development of solar power plants.

The effort is in support of President Obama's target to generate 10% of U.S. electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and 25% 2025. The nation currently generates more than 1000 megawatts (MW) from photovoltaics, and 600 MW from thermal concentrated solar power (CSP) systems.

The BLM plans to spend $22 million evaluating about 670,000 acres, or more than 1,000 square miles of land, in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah in search of sites with at least three square miles of good solar exposure, favorable slopes, access to roads and transmission lines, and minimal environmental impact.

Salazar estimated that the areas could generate nearly 100,000 MW, and announced his intention to have 13 commercial scale solar power plants under construction by the end of 2010. BLM is already considering environmental reviews for two NextLight Silver State arrays in Nevada, totaling 407 MW. (For comparison, typical coal-fired power plants in the U.S. are 500 to 700 MW in size. One megawatt of coal-fired capacity will power 400 to 900 homes, depending on their location and demand for air conditioning.) The BLM has already begun the process of developing environmental impact statements for three solar projects in California, including two by Stirling Energy Systems totaling 1,600 MW of capacity, and the 400 MW Ivanpah project by BrightSource Energy.

BrightSource Energy CSP plant (pictured on the right), which uses an array of small, flat mirrors on heliostats that track the sun and focus its rays on a central "power tower" where the generator is located.

Applications for 10 MW or larger plants would be fast-tracked under the new program, which will radically streamline the permitting and development process and assume responsibility for one of the most burdensome aspects of getting utility scale solar plants built: environmental reviews.

The BLM has been struggling to process a backlog of pending applications for 470 renewable energy projects, including 158 commercial solar projects totaling some 97,000 MW—enough to power 29 million homes, and equivalent to 29% of the nation's electricity demand, according to the agency.

At present, zero permits have been approved. Progress has been impeded by concerns over species protection, availability of water (primarily for the cooling cycles of the power plants), and a maze of approval processes in multiple government agencies with overlapping jurisdictions.

Projects nearing approval will be expedited under the plan, and existing applications for projects in approved areas will be given priority.

"With coordinated environmental studies, good land use-planning and zoning, and priority processing, we can accelerate responsible solar energy production," Salazar said.

There's only one reason President Obama is forking over billions for renewable energy.

And it's making insiders an absolute fortune!

Click here to find out what's really behind the push for renewable energy.

Minimizing Environmental Risks

Environmental reviews have been especially troublesome, since utility scale solar projects require large (10-15 square mile) areas to be "walled off." But isolating even a five square mile tract can impact wildlife corridors and drainage. Many projects have been put on hold over concerns about endangered and protected species including the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise, the California kit fox, and the Yuma clapper rail.

In March, California Senator Dianne Feinstein threatened to propose legislation that would designate more than 800,000 acres between the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park as a national monument and off-limits to development, because it contains desert tortoise habitat, wildlife corridors, and endangered cactus. She wrote Salazar, requesting that 12 proposed solar projects in the area be stopped.

At the Concentrating Solar Thermal Power 2009 conference San Francisco, CA last month, I came to understand just how challenging the environmental aspect was in a presentation by Charles Ricker, the Senior Vice President of Business Development for BrightSource Energy. Oakland, California based BrightSource is one of the world's premier CSP developers, with 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of commitments, equivalent to 25% of the world's solar thermal generating capacity.

Ricker related his company's long and torturous slog to build the Ivanpah project. After securing a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 300 MW with California utility PG&E and a 100 MW PPA with Southern California Edison, getting well along in the permitting process with the California Energy Commission (CEC) and BLM, raising capital, securing access to transmission lines, buying a Siemens turbine and a Riley boiler receiver, and negotiating a contract for construction that was to break ground later this year, the discovery of 25 desert tortoises in the area held up the whole works.

Avoiding such deal-killers will be a key focus of the new BLM process. The study will specifically exclude "sensitive lands, wilderness and other high-conservation-value lands as well as lands with conflicting uses" such as mining claims, according to the Department of Interior press release. "Areas with a known density of cultural sites" and those "of known Tribal concerns" will also be excluded.

Once a given area is approved for development, companies applying for projects will be able to incorporate the BLM clearances as part of the environmental impact studies required by the National Environmental Policy Act. Consequently, it should greatly reduce the cost of doing the environment evaluations, as well as the investment risk.

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Fat Incentives

Helping to shoulder the burden of environmental clearing, permitting and approval is a critically important benefit at a time when raising the necessary capital continues to be a major hurdle. Banks are still very reluctant to lend for renewable energy projects. One presenter at the CSP 2009 conference explained that Florida Power & Light had to tap 12 banks to round up a lousy $350 million in financing for what was essentially a no-risk renewable energy utility project!

Another presenter noted that banks will still not finance storage systems for CSP projects because of their lack of a commercial track record. This is extremely unfortunate as thermal storage offers the potential for CSP plants to operate 24/7 and compete head-to-head with coal-fired and nuclear plants, providing round-the-clock "baseload" capacity. Numerous technologies including high pressure concrete, mineral oil, molten salts, and direct steam storage are now available or under development that could crack this all-important limitation and pave the way for utility solar to take over a large part of the nation's electrical supply load. Without storage, solar plants can't function when the sun is down.

In an effort to make utility scale solar projects more attractive to investors, a host of government incentives have been launched.

First, the new BLM process will be funded by $41 million dollars given to the agency under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 "to advance the nation's development and transmission of renewable energy on public lands."

The federal stimulus package also offered a package of incentives designed to further minimize the investment risk for commercial solar plants. A cash grant program from the Treasury covers 30% of the project cost with no limit, and functions like a tax credit. Better yet, Treasury must grant it if a project meets the application requirements.

Congress also appropriated $6 billion for a program administered by the Department of Energy that will subsidize the risk premium (10-15% of the total loan) to backstop the investment risk for projects that are ready to start construction by Sept 30, 2011.

Additional financial incentive programs are available at the state level. Arizona will assess property taxes on a mere 20% of the depreciated property value. New Mexico offers a production tax credit against state taxes for 10 years, capped at 200,000 MWh/year, and a 6% "advanced energy tax credit." Nevada has an abatement incentive that will reduce normal sales taxes of 6.5% - 7.75% to just 2.6%, and reduce property taxes by as much as 55% for CSP projects; the incentives expire in 2049. Colorado offers a permanent property tax assessment that will value solar energy projects at the same level as comparably sized non-renewable facilities, giving them an assessed value that is far lower than the actual value on a sliding scale. Utah offers a sales tax exemption as well.

With policy and financial support at its back and the BLM clearing the path ahead, the future looks bright indeed for utility scale solar, the cheapest solar watts around. It's not easy to find publicly traded stocks that are positioned to benefit from the technology's next wave of expansion, but that's why we're here.

Until next time,

Chris

Energy and Capital

Cap and Trade Legislation

In the ensuing media onslaught since the House passed the "Climate Change Bill," one thing has been lost.

It's not just a climate change bill. It's also an energy bill. Initially, at least, this was supposed to be advantageous to the bill's passage. It has proven anything but.

Lost somewhere among the dubious estimates of how much this bill would cost citizens and the clever, punnish names being used to decry cap and trade is the more important part of this bill. . . for energy investors and for the country.

It's the energy part of the bill. And it's been all but ignored. The bill, after all, is called the American Clean Energy and Security Act. No cap or trade in the title.

Let's not forget that carbon (and other greenhouse gases) will eventually be capped or taxed. The Supreme Court has already granted the EPA authority to do this via its ruling on a multistate lawsuit. That gives the EPA power to regulate CO2 — with or without Congress.

Perhaps you missed this gem of policy detail that broke earlier this year.

While it won't be necessary to regulate emissions, Congress's help would be nice for changing our energy future by leveling the playing field for renewables.

That's where energy security will come from. That's where the money can be found. And that's what we should be focusing on.

The Energy Bill of 2009

The forgotten energy portion of this bill requires us to get 12% of our power from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020. It also mandates as much as 8% in energy efficiency savings.

But it won't just guarantee our use of renewables will more than quadruple, from about 2% of the mix today. This bill, when it emerges from the Senate, could be an energy piñata with something for everyone. And everyone seems to be forgetting that.

If it passes that chamber, it's likely to emerge more closely resembling an energy bill that quietly passed a Senate Committee earlier this month. That version includes opening up large areas of offshore drilling, funds for cleaner coal, and a new gas pipeline in Alaska.

A separate Senate bill considers capping emissions.

If the Senate tacks on their provisions to the House version — and strips the cap and trade title — we could actually see passage of a meaningful energy bill this year. One that placates both sides of the aisle. One that significantly boosts renewables while still making significant contributions to the oil, gas, coal, and nuclear industries. One that would leave the door cracked for the EPA to regulate emissions sans Congress.

And one that would make energy investors nice profits as it was enacted.

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The Non-Energy Bill of 2009

Of course, that's the optimistic scenario. The energy bill could always fall victim to the pedestrian partisan process we're all accustomed to by now.

I'll admit I'd like to see the House version signed into law. It would be a certain boon to green investing. But that's a political unreality and — dare I say it — probably bad policy.

So, we're either going to get a non-partisan energy bill that actually makes progress on all energy fronts, or we're going to get nothing.

But, I'll let you in on a little secret: renewables win either way. Other sectors only win if national legislation is passed.

It's a bold claim, I know. But here's the reasoning. . .

A national renewable energy policy passed by Congress would cover all 50 states, which sounds impressive and certainly generates headlines. What goes unmentioned, however, is that 32 states already have some form of renewable electricity mandates — some more strict than the national policy could dream of being.

Maine's 40% renewables requirement by 2014, for example, makes Congress's 12% by 2020 look paltry by comparison. And it will happen whether Congress acts or not.

By the way, 32 out of 50 is 64%, or about the percentage of Senate votes needed to pass legislation. Doing it at the state level could allow states whose senators would support the bill to proceed, leaving the remaining states to craft their own energy policies.

And that might not be a bad thing. States with good solar resources, like Arizona, could pursue a solar-intensive renewable energy standard. North Dakota could use more wind. And so on.

Energy policy could be tailored to individual states and could have better results than a blanket energy policy.

And renewables would still win.

Plus, you wait and see how many of those abstaining 18 states adopt progressive energy policies when 1) they see how well it works in other states, 2) they realize long-term energy prices would be lower with renewables, 3) fossil fuel prices once again reflect their looming scarcity, and 4) the executive branch sidesteps the legislative process to limit emissions.

We may not need a massive energy bill when 50 smaller ones can accomplish the same thing.

The bottom line here is that we should be focusing on the energy part of this bill. Doing a good job of that, even if it means nixing cap and trade at the moment, would do much to help secure our energy future, increase efficiency, and help stabilize long-term energy prices.

Those are all good things. And they can be even better for investors. The Alternative Energy Speculator is proving it day in and day out. That growing group of thousands of investors averaged more than one cleantech win per week for the entire first half of the year.

And that is just the beginning of a decades-long trend. Hundreds of opportunities will arise, but here's a peek at the next three.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Renewable Energy Statistics

I spent yesterday elbow deep in breakout sessions at the sixth annual Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF) Wall Street. So did 700 other top level cleantech executives, the "smart money" if you will.

But rather than whittle down my eight pages of notes into a lengthy piece about the worldly state of the industry-which I will do eventually-I'd rather offer you a simple set of statistics today that can paint the picture just as clearly.

These are numbers pulled right from my notes, in no particular order. They come from various primary sources, from Under Secretary of Energy Kristina Johnson to Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Nobuo Tanaka.

If you don't want to invest in cleantech after reading these statistics, you may need to check your pulse.

Cleantech Statistics from the REFF Wall Street

$56 billion. That's the amount of grants and tax incentives available to the renewable energy and efficiency industries-just in the U.S.

75%. That's the percentage growth of global renewable energy capacity since 2004.

2.8 gigawatts. The amount of wind energy installed in the first quarter of 2009.

1.4 gigawatts. The amount of wind energy installed in the first quarter of 2008, pre-recession.

42%. The amount of new power capacity installed in 2008 attributed to wind energy.

83%. The current U.S. administration's carbon dioxide reduction goal set for 2050.

3.6 million barrels. The amount of oil we import from the Middle East every single day.

2.5%. Renewable energy's share of the energy mix in 2008, less hydropower.

President Obama just forked over $350 million to the geothermal industry.

But which geothermal company will get the lion's share of this massive subsidy?

Perhaps the only one that just got $84 million from the DOE to build its next power plant!

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30%. Renewable energy's share of the energy mix forecast for 2030. Growth, anyone?

85,000 gigawatt-hours. The amount of annual energy production potential for small scale hydro.

$0.05 per kilowatt-hour. The target cost for solar energy by 2020.

$50 million. Amount of funding for DoE home geothermal heat pump initiatives.

$100 billion. Amount spent every year on heating and cooling buildings.

$6.5 billion. Amount spent every year powering refrigerators.

18%. The percentage lights attribute to a buildings energy cost.

75%. The efficiency advantage of LED and CFL lights.

87%. The percentage of CO2 attributed to energy production per the EIA.

97%. The percentage increase in CO2 emissions coming from non-OECD countries by 2030 per the EIA. 75% will come from China, India, and the Middle East alone.

$134 billion. The amount of new investment capital coming cleantech's way by 2011.

$217 billion. The amount of new investment capital coming cleantech's way by 2012.

$184 billion. The amount of stimulus dollars afforded cleantech by global governments-China leads.

25%. Percentage of GE Energy Financial Services' portfolio dedicated to clean energy by 2010.

Bottom Line

The only statistic not included is how much your portfolio stands to benefit by investing in the mega-trends emerging from the data above.

The bottom line is that the use of renewable energy will double several times over in the next 15 to 20 years, from 2.5% of the global energy mix to well over 15%, attracting trillions of dollars in capital.

By default, that means other fuels will lose market share.

Where do you want your money: in the energy sector certain to at least quadruple or in the energy sectors whose market share is slipping with every panel and turbine installed?

Scarcity may earn you a few bucks in the fossil fuels market. But fundamental solid growth will make you a killing the cleantech sector.

I'm proving it each and every day-to the tune of 25 closed double digit winners already this year. Many more are on the way.

You can read about the next three winners right here.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Water Problems & Solutions

Given the current state of their region, you'd think the Western Governor's Association would have plenty of pressing issues to discuss. . .

California can't pay its bills—funding for education, healthcare and welfare have already been cut as the state's deficit continues to balloon to over $24 billion. In all reality, state-paid workers could soon be paid with IOUs.

The source of swine flu, now a global pandemic per the World Health Organization, lies right below Western states. And then there's the ongoing immigration and drug problems stemming from their southerly neighbor.

Indeed, Western governors have much to worry about and prepare for. Yet conversation at the recent three-day Western Governor's Association meeting was largely dominated by water issues. The topic is gaining such importance that several presidential cabinet members, as well as water experts from the Middle East and Australia, were in attendance.

According to the Associated Press, "Although many of the controversies in the West center around urbanization, natural resources and energy development, water - and often the lack of it - comes up again and again."

Alleviating water issues in the West and elsewhere is proving to be a very valuable, multifaceted business. And the gathering of minds at the recent governor's summit offered a bit of insight about where to look for profits.

Tributaries of Water Profits

One of the key panelists at the forum was preeminent water expert Dr. Peter H. Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute, and someone whose work I've been following for some time.

With respect to "urbanization, natural resources and energy development," Gleick believes, "Water is connected to all those things." This is a theme I've conveyed to you in articles about the energy-water nexus.

To combat the compounding of problems, Gleick and policymakers are pushing numerous solutions that focus on both the supply and demand sides of the water issue. And each one has its own investment angle.

On the demand side, officials are pushing ubiquitous conservation. And this means water prices are going to rise.

Los Angeles has already given customers a monthly usage allowance. If they go over, their water rate nearly doubles. And the European Union's Water Framework Directive will heavily tax water after 2010.

Just as consumers are adapting to higher energy costs, so to will they adapt to higher water costs. Smart meters being used for electricity are being engineered to work for the water industry as well.

Retrofitting millions of homes and businesses with smart water meters will be big business. And some of the same names apply. IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Itron (NADAQ: ITRI) are involved in all things "smart."

Buffett Loves Batteries

And so do members of Green Chip International.

Both took positions in a tiny Chinese battery maker. And both are up nearly 200%.

But just like the global cleantech market, this play is just getting started.

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But reducing demand is less than half the picture in this scenario. The big solutions—and the big profits—will come from altering water supply.

Oceans of Water Profits

Pretend for a moment that water is oil.

Conservation is great. But it doesn't really change the macro market. Tightening water use standards is like increasing CAFE standards: it makes headlines, but that's about it. It's a purely political victory—no automaker was doing cartwheels over having to make more efficient cars.

Now imagine changing the supply picture.

This is why throngs of investors get so excited about offshore oil, oil sands, and the arctic reserves. . . because it increases supply. And the companies that have access to the new supply make an absolute fortune.

The entire business of wildcatting was built on this premise.

And it's about to play out in the water sector on two fronts.

The first is water reuse. By actively treating and reusing water, rather than purging it into rivers and down storm drains, the supply picture begins to improve.

As water problems mount, a multi-billion dollar effort will ensue to revamp our water infrastructure, erecting many new treatment and distribution plants. Much money was dedicated to this in the stimulus, and related stocks are starting to feel the results.

Industrial water plays like Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK) and Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) are the main beneficiaries. Not to mention all the parts and pump suppliers that will provide the backbone for the expansion.

The second, and most lucrative, supply-side solution is desalination. If it were oil, desalination would be like finding limitless Saudi Arabias in your backyard. There's an infinite supply. . . oceans of water and oceans of profits.

It's why blue chip conglomerates are pursuing the technology full bore. GE and Dow have been in the desalination game for years. So has Siemens. They've been exploiting desalination in the Middle East where oil money and arid conditions have allowed it to prosper. But growing water issues are about to make desalination a global necessity.

A recent industry report by Lux Research stated the industry will triple in the next decade. Related stocks could fare just as well.

If fact, I've found one company whose technology is certain to succeed. Berkshire Hathaway and a handful of institutions agree with me—they've each bough millions of shares.

You can learn all about the technology, the company, and its profit potential right here.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Algae Biodiesel

From New Hampshire to South Carolina, local news outlets are busy covering the appearance of many different types of algae.

It's big news in the Granite State, where "a potentially dangerous blue-green algae has been observed in Lake Monomonac in Rindge, prompting the town to post warning signs to residents."

Down South, ABC affiliate WCIV reports, "So far, the red algae is not causing a problem in Georgetown, but. . . local experts believe it's a matter of time before the red algae hits in-shore."

Even here in Baltimore, our Inner Harbor has been inundated with what is officially being called Prorocentrum minimum— yet it caused an estimated 3,200 fish deaths and had a maximum stench.

But for all the trouble algae is currently bringing, its presence may be a saving grace in the future.

Algae Biofuels Offer "Great Promise"

According to the draft algae biofuels roadmap issued by the Department of Energy last week, "Microalgae offer 'great promise' to contribute a significant portion of the renewable fuels target specified in the Renewable Fuels Standard."

And that's not even the exciting part.

The roadmap went on to say:

Algal biofuels could provide sufficient fuel feedstock to meet the transportation fuels needs of the entire United States, while being completely compatible with the existing transportation fuel infrastructure (refining, distribution, and utilization).

Of course, that's a long way off. The technology needed to get us there is still in its "infancy."

Bear with me for one more snippet from the roadmap:

There is a general consensus that a considerable amount of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) needs to be carried out to provide the fundamental understanding and scale-up technologies required before algal-based fuels can be produced sustainably and economically enough to be cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels.

That's in DoE speak. In investor's English, they're screaming, "Ground-floor opportunity!"

And how could it not be? If the technology is in its "infancy" and could eventually meet all our liquid fuel needs. . . there is only one direction to go, right?

Same as in the early 1970s, when the DoE launched the Aquatic Species Program to further the same cause. . .

I guess the return of cheap oil after the embargo has kept the ground floor intact for nearly 40 years now. But with peak oil knocking on the door and global governments determined to reduce CO2 output, algae is once again in the limelight.

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Wait for It, Wait for It

Now, the government seems to be a bit more serious. $800 million has been given to biodiesel research by way of the stimulus, much of which will go to algae biodiesel research.

Research.

It's hard to profit from research unless a private company makes a major breakthrough.

What's worse, the DoE's Algal Roadmap puts it in plain terms that:

The current state of knowledge regarding the economics of producing algal biofuels are woefully inadequate to motivate targeted investment on a focused set of specific challenges. Furthermore, because no algal biofuels production beyond the research scale has ever occurred, detailed life cycle analysis (LCA) of algal biofuels production has not been possible.

In short, the science of algae cultivation (algaculture), agronomy-for-algae, if you will, does not exist. It is thus clear that a significant basic science and applied engineering R&D effort including a rigorous techno-economic and LCA will be required to fully realize the vision and potential of algae.

Nonetheless, several companies are in hot pursuit, trying to eliminate every hurdle to commercialization they can and securing a windfall payout in the process.

Investors are doing the same. But so far, finding a winner has been as successful as the hunt for commercialization. Here's a handful of algae hopefuls over the past two years.

Anywhere from flat to bankrupt. And believe me, Chapter 11s have been filed in this sector.

But the research goes on. And a few companies, including private ones, seem to be making strides— at least to the extent that venture and private capital are still flowing to the sector.

Algae start-up Solazyme, for example, secured another $57 million this week. They've raised cash in several rounds already.

Eventually, a breakthrough will happen. It's just too early to tell when and who will make it.

In an effort to explore the topic further, I've conducted an interview with the CEO of one of the top companies in the field.

I'll be releasing it to readers of Green Chip Review in the coming week. Sign-up for that FREE newsletter here to get the new algae report along with other profitable coverage from the alternative energy market.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Battery Power Stocks

Last week, we talked about Buffett's bullish bet on battery stocks.

To recap, last September Oracle-owned MidAmerican Energy took a 10% stake�worth $232 million in a Chinese battery/auto manufacturer.

The company, BYD (HK: 1211), is up 306% since.

But Buffet isn't the main story here. In fact, he's more of a catalyst bringing an extremely lucrative investment opportunity to the public eye.

The real story here is energy storage, which I recently covered in a two-part series you can read here and here.

It's not a very sexy topic, I know. But easy double-baggers make it a bit more appealing.

The Case for Energy Storage

Do you remember when Obama was talking all that crazy stuff about doubling the use of renewable energy, laying new power lines, and improving energy efficiency?

Well, you should because he's been doing it for about a year now, half of which he's been the leader of the free world. And even if you haven't noticed (or don't care). . . others, including myself, profitably have.

This is because of the unique dynamic of the energy storage market.

You see, Congress is about to mandate that we get a certain percentage � probably 15-20% � of our electricity from renewable resources in the next decade. The bill has already passed committee in the House.

Thing is, not many people realize the full implications of this move. This is guaranteed market share and crystal clear visibility. Imagine if a new law required Sprint to have a guaranteed increased market share. You'd buy that stock, right? Thousands of investors would.

This is exactly what's happening in the renewable energy market right now. Solar and wind stocks, on average, have tacked on ~30% or more in the past few weeks.

But we're not talking about them today because energy storage stocks have proven even more lucrative.

And that's because energy storage is needed no matter the energy source. It's the only technology that will allow renewable energy to meet its new growth targets.

Going forward, nearly all new solar and wind projects could use an energy storage device to store excess power. This way, wind energy generated overnight could be used the next morning.

Industry insiders are forecasting inelastic demand for this market. If you know anything about economics, you know that means prices can be raised without affecting demand.

And it's been estimated that even if only 1% of projects that could use energy storage adopt some form of it, the market will be worth $600 billion in the next decade.

But profits are being made right now.

America's "Other" Energy Crisis

It is a potential future shortage of domestic enriched uranium. And if we're not careful, it could put us at the mercy of imports all over again -- just like oil.

But there is one company working hard to keep this nightmare scenario from becoming a reality. In fact, it's virtually a monopoly and its share price could easily double.

To learn more about this Nuclear Monopoly click here.

Four Energy Storage Stocks You Missed. . .

But I (and readers of Alternative Energy Speculator) didn't.

That's because when I see a looming opportunity, I take it. This market is being forced to grow, for crying out loud.

And the billions set aside for smart grid and battery development in the stimulus were a clear buy signal for this market.

Other investors obviously agreed. And look what happened:

Readers of Alternative Energy Speculator have cashed out of three of those stocks for double-digit gains. And they're sitting on the other one for even more profits.

Were you in these stocks? Have you even heard of them?

These are the companies providing the backbone of a new energy economy. There are plenty more of them, and AES members have been reading about them for months.

If you're serious about investing in energy, you need to be reading about them as well.

China's got a $300 billion deal on the table to get 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020. India is shooting for 10% by 2012. And in addition to the coming U.S. targets I discussed above, the recent stimulus allocated $112 billion for the sector.

Have you heard anything about increasing the use of oil by law? Any mention of a fossil fuel stimulus?

Sure, there's money to be made there, but only because economic scarcity will drive up prices.

I'd want to get in on the ground floor of the new energy industry rather than jump off the top floor of a dying one.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. I'm not pushing any ideology or political spectrum. I'm just calling it like is see it. And so far this year, I've called 27 winners in the cleantech space � 23 of them were closed for double-digit gains. Stop thinking about it and start profiting from it.

Battery Technology Stocks

Warren Buffett's favorite word from this year's spelling bee has to be ophelimity, which means economic satisfaction.

As we all know, he loves making money. And he's good at it.

He also loves the cleantech market for all the ophelimity it brings.

It's no secret clean energy is big business. I've heard more than once that Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings generates more wind power than any other regulated utility. But it's hard to tell, since megawatts (and profits) are added every day.

So, it shouldn't be big news — or surprising news — that The Oracle is interested in other segments of alternative energy. That's why I was somewhat shocked to see Buffett in the headlines of major news outlets this week as they touted his "new" interest in batteries.

I've been telling you the battery market — and energy storage in general — is heating up in a big way. And I've known about Buffett's "new" interest in batteries since 2008.

A Buffett Battery Buffet

In fact, it was last September when MidAmerican took a 10% stake in BYD (Build Your Dreams), a Chinese battery and auto maker. I recommended it to readers of Green Chip International on the December dip, and you can see how we've done since then:

Up 188% and running. The Dow's down about 30% for the same time frame.

Why? Because BYD is doing what American carmakers failed to: focus on efficiency and hybridization early.

Here's how that worked out:

Any company can make a car. Only a few are successfully making hybrids. And you can see where investors think the future will be.

But really, BYD's success has more to do with its battery than anything else. The battery is the keystone of the entire hybrid market, and the Achilles heel of the Chevy Volt, among others. It's easy to form sheet metal into a sedan.

Double... Triple... Even Quadruple your Money as Oil Recovers

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In fact, as oil recovers, we expect our $3 stock to soar to at least $15 to $20 in the next few months. Isn't it time you started making these gains?

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It's the Battery, Stupid

As it turns out, hybrids are great. But Buffett went after BYD for their batteries because they can not only transform the global auto market (BYD cars will hit Europe next year and the U.S. shortly after), but they also have very profitable implications for the smart grid and energy storage markets, as we learned last week.

Here's the Christian Science Monitor blurb I referenced a few weeks ago:

While the Obama administration presses to expand renewable energy with emphasis on growing wind farms and utility-scale solar, these efforts could vastly increase the need to build new backup power plants — much of which today involves firing up natural-gas turbines when the winds die down. The only way to avoid using fossil fuels is to develop grid storage.

What we're talking about is storing some of the power generated by solar and wind to use it when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. Buffett thinks BYD's batteries would do that nicely.

MidAmerican is starting the testing process now, building a 2-megawatt storage facility in Portland. And BYD is building a Chinese version as well.

This is all because of how potentially lucrative the energy storage market could be. According to a recent industry report by Piper Jaffray, "The total available market for energy storage will be at least $600 billion over the next 10-12 years even if just 1% of the total worldwide stationary energy generation market adopts some form of energy storage for stationary power."

What happens when 2% adopt? 3%?

Well, I think it's safe to say we'll see more of this:

Those are three stocks from the energy storage arsenal in just the past three months. And readers of Alternative Energy Speculator have played each of them.

But this will be a years-long profit process. Warren Buffett knows it. And now you know it.

All you have to do is take advantage.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Investing in Water Companies

I've covered the water industry for some time, waiting for the problems that I knew were coming to rise to the surface and create serious profit opportunities for those in the know.

In the States, investors that get the big picture have seen this coming for a while. Those unfortunate enough to live in water-scarce areas—and they number in the billions—have been living with the stark water reality for decades, or longer.

But only in the past few years have water problems made headlines here. As our infrastructure teeters on the brink of collapse, you undoubtedly hear about one of the thousands of water main breaks that happen each and every day.

And you've probably also heard that, in addition to cash flow, California's water supply is also drying up. In fact, most of the Southwest and Southeast are in years-long droughts.

It all sounds very bad but, if you play it right, the results of this impending water crisis can be very good.

Worldly Water Wealth

That's mostly because we're a relatively wealthy, prosperous, developed nation, with a government that will ensure its citizens' access to freshwater. That may not be the case in other parts of the globe.

Take, for example, the $11.28 billion recently allocated to improving our water supply via the stimulus and the president's budget. Here's how that sum breaks down:

$3.9 billion for EPA Water Loan Programs
$6 billion for EPA Clean Water State Revolving Funds
$1.38 billion for the USDA Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program

The total sum is greater than the entire gross domestic product of Cambodia. And it's all going to alleviate water our problems.

Such is the benefit of living in a wealthy nation. The cumulative "they" won't let anything too bad happen. We're spoiled enough to know that Uncle Sam will always provide.

But there's more to it than just having the simple things readily available. . . water at the tap, a well-connected highway system. You can also profit from them.

Because Uncle Sam is just like, well, a rich uncle. He'll pay for you to get things done, but he won't do them himself.

This oft overlooked bridge is the key to easy profits.

Now that oil has finally bottomed out... what's your next move?

The precipitous fall for oil prices late last year has decimated nearly every oil and gas company in the industry. It also struck fear in most investors, causing their knee-jerk selling. Lost in the panic, however, is the fact that many of those oil and gas stocks were unfairly beaten down.

Fortunately for investors, you have somewhere you can turn to prepare yourself for the next round of oil profits.

Simply click here to learn more about The $20 Trillion Report.

A Bridge to Somewhere

The government is just providing the funding for these projects. Funding that you contributed to via taxes or from debt we've outsourced.

Those funds then go to companies that provide desired services. . . companies that you can invest in for profit. I'll call this the funding bridge. And most government projects have it.

It's why Northrup and Lockheed profit during wartime. And it's why biotechs soar when they get government funding or approval.

I'm sure even the "Bridge to Nowhere" would've had a profit bridge to somewhere.

This time around, over $11 billion is about to make its way onto the balance sheets of water companies. The key to profiting, and to taking double advantage of government spending, is to find out which companies are getting the boost.

This is one of the ways Alternative Energy Speculators get an edge on the cleantech market. If you haven't noticed, politicians from all sides are stumbling over themselves to give money to clean and green projects.

It's why we bought into Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK) at the end of March. As one of the preeminent environmental engineering firms, I knew Federal money was about to head their way.

Since then, TTEK has been awarded a $20 million water resource planning contract with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. And we're sitting on a 20% gain. We've also cashed out of several other water plays in the double-digit range.

But this funding bridge is just getting started. According to Recovery.gov, only $36.8 million of stimulus dollars have been spent. The Feds will be spending that money for the next four years.

And if you get into the right companies now, you could be profiting the entire time.

Companies are lining up to get the funding. And serious investors are lining up right behind them.

In fact, I've found one water company that the big boys are salivating over. It'll easily double as more attention is paid to water woes, and as more money is doled out to combat them.

Berkshire, T. Rowe Price, and more have already increased their positions, but there's still time to get in. Take a moment to read all about the water company that's got Buffett hot and bothered.

And keep an eye out for more on water opportunities in the future.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Wind Energy Stocks

The recession has wreaked havoc on the wind industry, but all indications point to a strong recovery in the second half of the year.

This is partly due to the inherently cyclical nature of the wind market, which generally does better after June when prolonged good weather returns to much of the northern hemisphere.

As an energy investor, catching this rebound could prove to be lucrative for your portfolio. Just look at how adverse market conditions knocked the wind out of this market:

In some cases, the multi-hundred percentage point gains of the past few years were erased. It was brutal when it was happening. And even worse if you owned a position in a wind company.

But now, the silver lining is emerging: you can purchase wind stocks for their 2007 prices (or lower) and ride them as they go back to their 2008 highs.

It's a retro-sale.

But don't take my word for it. Here's why the wind industry will inevitably rebound.

Political Support for Wind

I make no bones about saying the Obama election was a cleantech profit catalyst. Take a look at some of those same companies over the last year, rather than the last five:

November was a clear turning point for the industry because of the obvious discrepancy between the two candidates' support for clean energy.

President Obama just forked over $350 million to the geothermal industry.

But which geothermal company will get the lion's share of this massive subsidy?

Perhaps the only one that just got $84 million from the DOE to build its next power plant!

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And the support is only growing.

I've exhaustively covered the ideas of a national renewable energy standard (RES) and carbon trading — and what they mean to energy investors — in these pages. Slowly but surely, they are becoming a reality.

In fact, the House reached an agreement just yesterday to include a 15% by 2020 renewable target in the massive climate and energy bill that's currently being debated. In case you're still out of this profitable loop, an RES mandates the increased use of renewables. It forces it. It guarantees it. It makes it law.

And you can invest in the companies that will make it happen.

Tell me, when's the last time you heard of the government forcing the expansion of industry by law? Mandating its growth targets?

You don't get any better industry visibility than that.

What's more, utilities know they're about to be forced to adopt renewables, so they're preparing in anticipation. . . initiating new solar and wind projects now before the measure even takes effect.

Federal Funds to Drive Growth

The recession and resultant credit crisis all but made funding for cleantech projects disappear.

But the recently-signed stimulus allocated $56 billion for clean energy via grants and tax breaks over the next 10 years. And that's on top of a new $15 billion per year budget to fund renewable energy programs.

Once those funds are released, The Street is going to flock to that money's final destination: clean energy companies.

A good portion of it will be going to wind companies, and their stock prices will begin to reflect the newfound source of essentially free funding. If you want to profit, you need to take a position before the Federal billions start flowing.

For perspective, consider that wind energy currently only makes up about 1% of the energy mix in the U.S. The Department of Energy has said that we could get to 20% by 2020. That implies a 1,900% increase in the size and value of the wind market.

And it's not too far out to think certain wind stocks could climb by the same amount. The chart above shows 800% gains in five years. Imagine a decade-long Federal push for wind energy.

The profits will be even greater. They key is finding the companies that will get the funding and buying shares before the money heads their way.

The Alternative Energy Speculator has already had success playing the initial stages of this wind rebound. We're sitting on a 25% gain from the First Trust Global Wind ETF (NYSE: FAN) in addition to a few other specialized plays, including the important aspect of energy storage.

If you want in on the action, use this report to get started. It spells out why the wind industry is poised for a surge in growth and how you can ensure you get a piece of the three wind stocks I think will double.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Energy Storage Companies

Last week, we talked about energy storage and how vital it is to improve it if we're ever to exploit renewable energy resources fully.

Today, we'll cover the current market sentiment about energy storage and take a look at a few companies making waves in the sector — leading the charge, if you will.

Energy Storage Gets a Jolt

The energy storage market usually isn't one to attract attention. It's chugged along quietly for some time, its only public mascots the Energizer Bunny and the less-exciting Coppertop.

Now instead of powering an army of Walkmen, batteries are being looked to as a power source for the entire grid, charged time after time by renewable energy.

After attending the industry's keystone annual event, Battcon, Piper Jaffray put out an industry note stating battery "industry experts, manufacturers, and distributors. . . view 2009 as a turning point for the industry."

The catalyst? Billions of federal stimulus dollars are about to begin flowing to the sector because, as we discussed last week, improving storage is the only way to expand our use of renewable energy drastically — a main congressional and presidential goal.

In fact, the potential for the energy storage industry is so big that if over the next decade just 1% of energy storage demand is met, the industry will be worth at least $600 billion — all of which will end up on the balance sheets of energy storage companies.

Winning Energy Storage Technologies

Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is exactly what the name implies. Instead of using a resource to generate electricity, the resource is used to compress air, which is later heated to produce electricity.

So, for example, a wind turbine could be compressing air all day to be used as electricity later when the wind stops blowing. These are huge, high-cost projects with natural geological formations usually used to store the air.

As large renewable projects begin to add a storage component, CAES will be increasingly used. Leaders there include Alstom (PARIS: ALO) and Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC).

Fuel Cells use electrochemical reactions to store energy. Since they cannot be charged and discharged quickly, fuel cells will mainly be used in lengthy back-up power applications. Though less proven and a bit further from widespread use, Ballard Power (NASDAQ: BLDP), Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), and Hydrogenics (NASDAQ: HYGS) are all pursuing solutions.

Flywheels are mechanical storage devices that take electricity from the grid and store it in a rotating wheel for later use. This well help smooth out disparities between peak and non-peak hours. In some cases, utilities will be able to store cheap excess energy and resell it during peak hours. Though less exciting, being able to quell power interruptions and voltage surges is soon to be big business. Beacon Power (NASDAQ: BCON), Active Power (NASDAQ: ACPW), and Vycon (LON: VYCO) are all vying for a piece of it.

Superconductors and Ultracapacitors may hold the best potential because they can deliver power almost instantaneously, greatly improving grid stability and distribution. Maxwell (NASDAQ: MXWL) is the far-and-away leader here. With strong ties to the electric vehicle and wind markets, I look for this company to become a storage stalwart.

Those are all the non-battery energy storage technologies. While all the technologies will find a place in the market, all the companies certainly won't. Some will go on to greatness and some will fall off the map.

Only in-depth research can make the difference between good returns and putting your money in the next start-up to file Chapter 11.

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Batteries for Energy Storage

Batteries are still the bread and butter of this industry. We use them for everything from cell phones to forklifts.

There are four main kinds, each with different uses, benefits, and profit potential.

Lead Acid Batteries are the cheapest and most widely used. They're found in automobiles, forklifts, and in many back-up power applications. The technology is well-known, and so are the companies that make it. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is the world's largest producer with C&D Technologies (NYSE: CHP) and Exide (NASDAQ: XIDE) also being worth a look.

Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries have high energy density and are rechargeable, making them highly useful in the electric vehicle and consumer electronics markets. Panasonic (NYSE: PC) is the leader here, but Hongkong Highpower (AMEX: HPJ) and the Buffett-backed BYD (HK: 1211) are making big strides.

Sodium Sulfur Batteries are causing quite a stir right now because of their huge potential for renewable energy storage. Utilities like Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) and American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) are already testing them on a multi-megawatt scale. The established company here is Japan's NGK Insulators (TYO: 5333) with U.S.-based start-up Geo-Battery in hot pursuit.

Flow Batteries are unique because they have unlimited capacity. The batteries are fueled by storage tanks of electrolytes. As long as there's fuel in the tank, the battery will work. With such flexibility, these batteries can be used for cars or grid storage. ZBB (NYSE: ZBB) and Sumitomo Electric Industries (TYO:5802) are the two worthy public companies in the field, with a number of private companies recently joining the ranks.

Lithium-ion Batteries are the most well known. Lightweight and with high-energy density, these batteries are now ubiquitous in cell phones and laptops and are being developed for electric vehicle applications. Being the incumbent technology, there are plenty of companies to choose from. Ener1 (AMEX: HEV), Valence Technology (NASDAQ: VLNC), Altair Nanotechnologies (NASDAQ: ALTI), Advanced Battery (NASDAQ: ABAT), and Ultralife (NASDAQ: ULBI), in addition to others, are all making strides in the industry.

Energy Storage: The Bottom Line

It may be hard to imagine now, but energy storage is just as important as renewable energy. In fact, the expansion of renewable energy would stall without it.

This fact has largely escaped the investment and political realms as technologies like solar and wind have hogged the spotlight. As their omission is realized, billions of dollars will be spent to make up for lost time.

This is your chance to get ahead of that curve. . . to get a piece of the action before the herd realizes what's going on. This two-part series should serve as a good introduction to the need for mass energy storage and the technologies and companies involved.

But an all-in approach simply won't work here. You need to know which companies are making the biggest cost reductions, establishing the biggest technology improvements, and above all, getting new contracts.

The industry is evolving too quickly for me to provide that in a weekly letter. Becoming a member of the Alternative Energy Speculator is the only way to ensure you get personal updates on this sector, including detailed industry and company reports, and well-researched recommendations.

We've already profited from numerous energy storage and smart grid plays in addition to multiple winners in the wind, solar, and infrastructure segments. Click here to get in on the action today.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Investing in Energy Storage

You've heard the plans.

We'll double the use of renewables in three years. We'll get 20% of our power from wind by 2020. And so on.

They're lofty goals, and they'll generate serious profits. In fact, fortunes have already been made from the public-facing technologies like wind and solar.

But for the industry to progress as quickly as planned, there are several hurdles that need to be overcome. And that's where the crazy money will be made.

Wind and solar are great. I've made money off them, and I've helped investors profit from those sectors — and I will continue to do so.

But what happens when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine? How can these resources provide baseload power if they are intermittent?

The answer is advanced energy storage. . . and it's worth billions.

The Need for Energy Storage

Here's a blurb from the Christian Science Monitor that puts it in perspective:

While the Obama administration presses to expand renewable energy with emphasis on growing wind farms and utility-scale solar, these efforts could vastly increase the need to build new backup power plants — much of which today involves firing up natural-gas turbines when the winds die down. The only way to avoid using fossil fuels is to develop grid storage.

If solar power isn't available at night, for example, it can never become a source of baseload power like coal or natural gas. Large scale energy storage can change all that.

So when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, some power is delivered to the grid and some is stored for later use — after the sun goes down or when wind speeds decline.

The problem — until now — was that energy storage technology was not advancing as fast as energy production technologies, and costs were not falling as quickly.

That gap is now narrowing, which means profits on both fronts for those in the know.

And the best part is, energy storage is a can't-fail sector. It's critical for the rapid expansion of renewable energy. And Congress is guaranteeing its success.

America's "Other" Energy Crisis

It is a potential future shortage of domestic enriched uranium. And if we're not careful, it could put us at the mercy of imports all over again -- just like oil.

But there is one company working hard to keep this nightmare scenario from becoming a reality. In fact, it's virtually a monopoly and its share price could easily double.

To learn more about this Nuclear Monopoly click here.

Investing in Energy Storage, an Introduction

This sector is so vital that it will soon approach inelastic demand. That means suppliers of energy storage technology will be able to raise prices without reducing demand. . . great news for investors.

And like I said, Congress needs this to happen, or their grandiose plans for renewable energy are moot. They are propelling this industry with billions of dollars of stimulus money and other programs through national laboratories and partnerships.

As a side note, energy storage falls under the broad umbrella of smart grid. So, Federal money for smart grid is also funding for energy storage — also sometimes called grid reliability.

It's a big sector with multiple technologies. So before you take the investment plunge, you should be aware of all the different types of energy storage devices that exist:

Lead Acid
Nickel Cadmium
Nickel Metal Hydride
Sodium Sulfur
Zinc Bromide
Superconducting Magnets
Flywheels
Fuel Cells
Compressed Air
Capacitor and Ultricapacitors
Lithium-ion

There's a market and a company for each of them. The trick is nailing down the right time to invest in the right sector.

Take lead acid batteries and superconducting magnets, for example. Two companies to watch there are Enersys (NYSE: ENS) and Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL). Look what those two have done recently:

I think it's safe to say there is money to be made here. It's estimated that energy storage will morph into a $600 billion industry over the next decade — not to mention it's the missing link to propelling renewable energy from marginal to mainstream.

And yet, it gets much less attention than its solar and wind cousins, giving savvy investors a brief window of opportunity to beat The Street to the punch.

For more on the emerging opportunity of energy storage, including reports and detailed recommendations, you'll want to consider joining Alternative Energy Speculator.

We've already taken one round of smart grid profits and are positioning for the next. Your gains from just one recommendation in this sector will pay your fee for years.

I'll also cover this topic next week right here, when we'll take a look at specific energy storage investment opportunities.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Smart Grid Companies

At energy and climate bill hearings this week, Rep. Jay Inslee was quoted as saying, "the bad news is that Thomas Edison would actually recognize our current grid system."

Time Magazine this week called our grid "a dinosaur, a leaky, money-wasting, carbon-dioxide-spewing system that remains shockingly vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attacks."

What this means is that improving the grid is the low-hanging fruit when it comes to cleaning up our energy act. Even before switching energy sources, we can reduce emissions and improve efficiency and transmission by giving a century-old system a 21^st century update.

It's called the smart grid. And in addition to alleviating all costly energy bottlenecks, blackouts, and the inability to communicate in real time, the smart grid will also make smart investors lots of easy profits.

(For background info on the smart grid, click here and here.)

Blue Chips Seek Billions of Smart Dollars

The Obama Administration and the Department of Energy recently announced $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funding. The announcement was made by VP Joe Biden at an ABB Ltd (NYSE: ABB) transformer plant in Missouri.

That should be a clear indication of where to begin looking for smart grid profits. I had Alternative Energy Speculator readers in ABB back in October. It's made a quiet 50% run in the past six months:

That 50% gain came as smart grid stimulus measures were being discussed by a new President and Congress. The stock gains when the billions of dollars start flowing will be much bigger — doubles and triples are certainly in the cards.

I mean, you'd have to be living in a bunker not to recognize the opportunity here.

Even the bluest of blue chips are going after this sector.

Haven't you seen the GE (NYSE: GE) commercials with The Scarecrow crowing about how wonderful the smart grid will be? Or the IBM (NYSE: IBM) ads that have ordinary people talking about how smart everything should be? Or the Exxon (NYSE: XOM) series in which engineers talk about changing the energy picture with advanced technologies?

Believe me, Exxon isn't going all Al Gore on us. . . they simply see the other green here.

GE executives have said they expect the smart grid electricity monitoring business to grow to represent between $3 billion and $4 billion in annual revenue over the next three to four years.

Before the company's annual shareholder meeting, Vice Chairman John Krenicki said of the smart grid, "It's going to be a lot like wind. It's going to take off quickly."

Quickly, indeed. . .

President Obama just forked over $350 million to the geothermal industry.

But which geothermal company will get the lion's share of this massive subsidy?

Perhaps the only one that just got $84 million from the DOE to build its next power plant!

Want a piece of this action?

Click here now.

Projects & Profits Have Already Begun

Large smart grid projects have been in the works for about a year now. I reported on Xcel's (NYSE: XEL) $100 million plan to make Boulder the first smart grid city last June.

More recently, several companies and the City of Miami stepped up to launch a $200 million smart grid project that will connect every home and business in Miami-Dade County by 2011.

Heading up the project is Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL), along with GE and Cisco. Smart grid start-up Silver Spring Networks will provide software support.

If successful, FPL plans to invest another $500 million to expand the program to all of its 4.5 million customers.

According to GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, "This is not a science-fair project. This is commercial technology that shows the smart grid is real."

The profits are real, too.

Here's a chart of three specialized companies that come to mind when the term smart grid is mentioned:

Folks, this is all before the stimulus billions have been doled out. And readers of Alternative Energy Speculator took profits from two of them.

But this is just the beginning.

According to Jeffrey Immelt, "This [industry] is going to be the biggest investment for the first half of this century."

As that plays out, the 100%+ gains like those above will be less than nominal. You'll want to establish your position before the sector really takes off.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. I mentioned that readers of Alternative Energy Speculator have already closed numerous winning smart grid plays. Those are only a few of the gifts the stimulus brought savvy investors. Billions more are being doled out to all sectors of cleantech. . . and we're profiting from that, too. Click here to see all the investment opportunities afforded us from Uncle Sam's $787 billion hand-out.

A Macro Look at Green Energy

I love Earth Day. I have celebrated it for decades, by planting my garden or going for a hike or attending an event. (This year I'll be spending it as I have spent the last 10 days, staying put and nursing a nice case of poison oak I picked up while getting up close and personal with nature the weekend before last.)

This year it seems to have achieved a whole new level of popularity with a flourish of local celebrations. Everywhere I turn, I see messages encouraging people to plant a vegetable garden, reduce their energy and water consumption, install a solar system, buy "green" stuff...even offering "five ways to green up your sex life."

The media are saturated with ads applying a fresh coat of green paint to corporate images and logos, and the news has never been greener.

As I write, the FORTUNE Brainstorm: Green 2009 conference is under way, featuring an impressive lineup of business leaders and visionaries who are working on everything from electric cars to energy to emissions control to green business strategy. (Check out the Twitter feed from the conference.) The best and brightest in the tech and environment worlds, bringing a wide array of ideas and technologies, are finally engaging directly with business to make progress on the most important challenges of our time.

Simultaneously, at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations south of San Francisco, startups are pitching their inventions to investors, including new technologies in efficiency, solar, electrical storage and water.

Putting an end to a long-fought battle, the EPA finally agreed last week that "greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations," threatening public health and triggering climate change. This paves the way for policy action and significantly clears up the investing horizon for clean energy technologies.

In the House, debate commenced yesterday on the "American Clean Energy and Security Act," a bill submitted by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Edward Markey (D-MA) that would cut greenhouse gases more than 80% by 2050 through a cap-and-trade mechanism, and propose new standards for energy generation and use. It would be the most sweeping climate change legislation ever attempted.

A slew of great news from the renewable energy world also crossed my desk this week.

Sempra Energy announced plans to build a 48 megawatt (MW) expansion of its existing photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Nevada. When completed, the 58 MW installation will be the largest PV solar plant in North America.

First Solar (NASDAQ: FLSR) secured financing for a 53 MW solar power plant, which would be the largest in Germany and provide enough power to run 14,000 homes.

The Vatican announced plans to build a 100 MW, $660 million solar plant that would generate six times as much power as the tiny nation uses, with the excess exported to Italy. It's a great investment under Italy's generous feed-in tariff program, which pays up to €0.49 per kilowatt hour for the clean power when the retail price of grid electricity is about €0.16.

Most exciting to me was a new $1 billion, 200 MW solar project announced for Arizona, the sunshine-blessed state where I grew up. This plant would be in addition to a 280 MW CSP plant now being built near Phoenix by Spanish energy technology giant Abengoa SA (MCE: ABG). Together, the two plants will provide enough power for 130,000 homes.

Other impressive, utility-scale solar projects have been securing approvals and production agreements, including a planned 600 MW solar thermal project in Nevada, and a 1,300 MW plant in Southern California, both built by BrightSource Energy.

Geothermal power is also finally taking off. A new report from Emerging Energy Research identified over 9,000 MW of new geothermal generating capacity now in the global pipeline, which would nearly double the current 10,500 MW of global geothermal capacity. Of the new capacity, 4,400 MW are from US projects.

The news has been equally encouraging on the demand side. Electric car manufacturers are racing to bring their products to market, and engineers are making fast strides in obtaining a 60 to 100 mile range on a charge. Within the next two years, consumers should have an exciting array of choices for electric and plug-in cars.

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Smart grid technology appears to be the hottest focus of investment capital and media attention, and was reportedly the subject of the only over-capacity session at the FORTUNE conference.

Efficiency projects are likewise popping up, like wildflowers in spring.

As an energy analyst keenly interested in renewable energy and sustainability, I have never been more encouraged about the progress being made in both the business and political spheres. These announcements are particularly impressive in light of the fact that the world is still suffering from a serious credit crunch.

But as an individual investor, the outlook is somewhat less rosy.

It's (Still) All About the Financials

As I worked over some charts this week, looking for profitable investments in a market that remains chaotic, I had a stunning realization: Every chart had basically the same line!

Consider this six-month chart of ETFs for the real estate, financial, oil, Dow Jones industrial, and retail sectors:

While some sectors have clearly performed better than others, it's basically the same line in every sector, plus or minus 20%. Year-to-date, the correlation is even clearer.

Within the energy sector, the correlation is stronger still, with coal, oil, natural gas, solar, wind, and geothermal stocks all moving together in a tight-knit group.

Try it yourself. Plot a few of your favorite sectors together and play with the time frames. I think you'll find largely the same patterns since the market meltdown began last summer. Only traditional hedges like gold, tobacco and food plays run counter to the overall market trends.

That told me one thing: The markets are still all about the financials, which in turn have been all about real estate.

That was a sobering thought, because I don't believe the market rally of the last six weeks for a minute. It was led by the financials, and frankly they have cooked the books.

I have nearly lost track of all the ways that the Fed, Treasury, and SEC have attempted to stave off the inevitable realization that the banks are insolvent. TARP. TALF. PPIP. (Collectively, they mean "printing of trillions of dollars out of thin air.") Refusing to disclose who received those trillions. Suspending mark-to-market. Taking the banks' word at the result of their self-administered "stress tests," and then forbidding them to share those results with the public until May. And so on.

Only in a game that has been rigged and re-rigged repeatedly could the banks pull off the hallucination that they were profitable in Q1, especially to the point of claiming record quarterly profits! But that's exactly what they did, and the market followed their rally.

Let me be unequivocal about this: What we have witnessed in these vain attempts to sustain a fundamentally unsustainable financial system is a sham, an insult to our intelligence, and the biggest heist in history.

When this flood of taxpayer money recedes, the truth will be known, just as graveyard corpses float up to the surface after a New Orleans flood.

I don't know when that will happen; after all, that is the entire point of these games, isn't it? To give the big money just enough time to get away clean before the house of cards falls on the taxpayers' heads?

But I have little doubt that eventually, it will. It could happen in three weeks, when the stress test results are made public. Perhaps it could happen this summer, when scuttlebutt has it that a number of damning insiders will blow their whistles. Perhaps we will have to wait until China starts dumping dollars. I just can't say.

When it does though, the market will undergo another bone-shuddering meltdown, and everything will fall again—potentially marking the true bottom of the recession.

The lesson here is clear: traditional fundamental analysis is useless. It's been useless since real estate started dragging down the financials and took the whole market with them nine months ago. Even technical analysis is useless for long-term investors (although it remains the bread and butter of day traders). So you can stop looking at the financial statements and evaluating sectors and drawing lines on your charts.

Until the financial mess is finally washed up and hung out to dry, you can throw a dart at a dartboard to pick your long term investments, and get roughly the same returns.

Energy investments are, unfortunately, no exception. Renewable energy simply can't continue to attract the large amounts of capital needed to sustain unprecedented growth until the banks are straightened out. Fossil fuel producers can't keep drilling and mining into progressively marginal deposits until the prices of their commodities recover, which can't happen until the economy recovers (for signs of the recovery, watch Asia).

So by all means, get your reusable shopping bag, swear off bottled water forever, turn off anything that isn't in use, install a solar system, and plant your vegetable garden. With my sincere blessing.

Just don't let a rigged market make a chump out of you.

Until next time,

Chris

P.S. While the macro picture of the market is still cloudy, you have to be smart and tactically nimble to make gains. There are always fortuitous moments where you can pick up a quick 10-20% on a news-driven trade in alternative energy, which is why we created the Alternative Energy Speculator. If you're interested in grabbing some of these profits, you can learn more about the Alternative Energy Speculator here.

Investing in Water

Have you ever heard of absolute water rights?

If you haven't, you soon will.

It's a story over a century in the making, dating back to Civil War times. But its effect has serious profit implications in present day.

It was the 1850s when the first water rights were decreed in Colorado. And by 1864 the entire base flow of the Purgatory River had been appropriated.

About the same time, hundreds of thousands of prospectors began searching for gold in the area. They were the participants of Pike's Peak Gold Rush. You may know them better as Fifty-Niners, after the peak year of the rush.

But those miners not only secured a fortune for themselves, they unknowingly started a trend that would make you a fortune well over a century later.

An Absolute Right to Profit

Mining for gold requires an abundant supply of water for cleaning and moving sediment and rock. When Fifty-Niners diverted water to their mines, they used the same rules that applied to gold: first come, first served.

And that's largely how it's remained, albeit with a few changes in an 1882 Colorado Supreme Court case that allow rights to be transferred for better use.

But the rule of the 1850s still applies. If an entity was the first to physically divert water for beneficial use, it can be given the legal recognition that the right has been perfected, and the right becomes absolute by decree. That means whoever owns it has rights to the water even in dry years. . . even if citizens need it for drinking.

These rights can be bought and sold.

And guess whose in the market for them? Our friend Big Oil. They have been gobbling up rights like a communist regime. . . to the tune of about 50,000 acre feet at over 55 locations. And that's not counting the hundred thousand or so acre feet they've secured via conditional rights.

Cashing in on HR 1's Greatest Asset

Nobody hates pork more than I do, but buried within the hundreds of pages in the stimulus package, The Wealth Advisory Team has found an entire industry that's guaranteed to profit from it all - leaving early investors with giant-sized profits!

In fact, out of that whopping $787 billion, roughly 10% of it will fall right into the laps of the chemical sector, since it is an industry that literally ties into everything we use all the time.

That's $78.7 billion guaranteed - by law - to an industry that has its fingers in literally everything we touch.

That has left us on the doorstep of a Stimulus Goldmine that could easily double when all of that pork finds its home!

To learn more about this exciting opportunity click here.

You see, Big Oil knows water is growing more scarce by the minute.

The amount of freshwater we have stays the same, yet demand constantly rises, propelled by population, increased use for energy needs, and industrialization of the second and third world.

It's escalating to a robbing Peter scenario. . . like when the Colorado River is diverted to quench Southern California or when we overuse the Rio Grande leaving Mexico with only muddy runoff.

Big Oil's got the right idea. They're scooping up water rights on the cheap, hoping to sell them later when shortages become acute and the price rises sharply. It's an absolute right to profit.

And I've discovered a way for you to do the same.

Investing in Water

There are plenty of ways to invest in water. I've been writing about them for years, and have even nailed some triple-digit winners along the way.

But most of the water opportunities to date have been in companies that manage existing water. That is, in the infrastructure companies like Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC) and Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) that provide plants and technologies to improve our water delivery system and better manage our existing supply.

As I said our water supply stays the same. . . only demand rises.

Changing that equation is a multi-billion dollar opportunity. And desalination does just that.

There's been a lot of hype surrounding desalination and its potential to alleviate water problems. But scaling up has proven problematic because of the exorbitant energy costs associated with pressurizing the water for desalination.

That's why only enough water was desalinated last year to cover 0.26% of world water demand.

I've discovered a company that will change all that by reducing the energy requirement for desalination by 60%. It will allow for the widespread use of desalination, and make its shareholders a fortune in the process.

I've seen plenty of great water plays, and I'm confident this one will outperform them all. Buying shares now is like beating Big Oil at their own game. You'll own a piece of the company that will have virtual water monopoly for decades to come, securing your own "absolute" water rights in the process.

To ensure you take advantage, I've compiled a new report that spells out all the details. But you have to hurry. I just released this report yesterday, and the stock has already climbed 18%.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Space Based Solar Power

I didn't have to wait long for confirmation on my thesis of last week: "How to Profit from Energy Illiteracy."

Two new energy technologies were widely and breathlessly lauded in the media since then, both of which set my bullshit detector to clanging loudly.

The first was about a new type of insulated heater cable that could be used for in situ retorting of oil from the "vast" oil shale deposits of the American West, which hold "three times as much crude oil as the whole of Saudi Arabia."

All of the articles I found gushed about the potential of unlocking this hidden treasure by heating the rock underground to turn it into liquid crude, a less destructive method than surface mining. A few attempted to explain that the source rock contains not crude but kerogen, a solid, low-grade, high-ash precursor to oil, which must be heated to turn it into an upgraded form of synthetic crude. Essentially, the process attempts to do what nature did when it made crude oil, only in a much accelerated way.

None of the articles said anything however about the potential net energy of the process, its actual scale, its flow rate, or how long it might take to scale. That is, none of them said anything about anything that actually matters.

Here's the real deal on oil shale.

After four decades and five major fully authorized, commercial, even subsidized attempts to develop oil shale into a usable liquid fuel, no one has ever been able to make it economically feasible.

The nearest thing to a serious oil shale project in the country is a small, football field sized pilot project in northwest Colorado operated by Shell. Their plan is to drill several hundred holes into the rock, into which the heating elements are inserted. They will heat up the "pay zone" of hydrocarbons, which is often buried 2000-4000 feet deep, to temperatures up to 700 degrees F, and keep it there for three to four years in order to cook the kerogen into a liquid.

Obviously, that takes a great deal of energy input, but there's more. In order to keep the heated zone from leaking oil into the surrounding water table, a "freeze wall" is built around it, which will freeze the ground with giant chillers!

The net energy of this process isn't yet known (and the estimates provided so far are highly questionable), but it's so energy-intensive that I am intensely skeptical of the technology ever producing more than a long-lived trickle of extremely expensive synthetic oil. A path to American energy independence it will never be.

ASPO's Randy Udall puts it this way: "Suppose you owned $100 million dollars, but the bank would only allow you to withdraw $100,000/year. You would be rich...sort of."

But boy, those sure are some sexy cables, huh, you techno-utopians?

$555 Billion by 2020

There's a new leader in the global green energy market.

This underestimated nation already dominates the solar, wind, and hydro power industries. Now they're raising the stakes even higher... All told, their clean-tech market will be worth $555 billion by 2020.

G.E., DuPont, and even T. Boone Pickens have already staked a claim. Now it's your turn.

You can't afford to let these profits pass you by. Read the full report today.

The Space Based Solar Fantasy

The second story that got my blood boiling was on so-called space based solar power (SBSP).

The excitement was over a report that the California utility PG&E had sought permission from state regulators to sign a 15-year contract with California based Solaren Corp. to purchase up to 200 megawatts of solar power (850 gigwatt-hours in the first year) that would be collected in space and beamed to earth.

Again, the press gushed about the "next frontier" of solar power, which would collect power "24 hours a day" from the far brighter solar radiation available above earth's atmosphere from a low-orbit solar satellite 240 times bigger than the International Space Station. The energy would be transmitted to a receiver based in Fresno, California via microwave or radio waves (reports differed).

To my dismay, even the Wall Street Journal got into the SBSP act, albeit with a few allusions to the unknowns of the deal.

Let's take a look at a few of those unknowns.

First, Solaren hasn't even determined what sort of solar cells the project would use, yet the company asserted that it is sure the project will be economically viable.

Second, according to chief executive Gary Spirnak, the company is seeking funding "in the billions of dollars" just to develop the design and launch a pilot project. Neither Solaren nor PG&E has disclosed the expected cost of the project nor the terms of the power production contract.

To get an idea of what kind of bang for the buck SBSP might deliver, the Journal quoted a Pentagon report estimating that a 10 megawatt pilot satellite would run about $10 billion, or about $1 million per kilowatt of capacity.

By comparison, an off-the-shelf solar photovoltaic (PV) system for the home runs about $8,850 per kilowatt, for a commercial system about $6,720 per kilowatt, and for an industrial sized system, about $4,850 per kilowatt (source). Even after quadrupling those costs to account for the fact that PV systems generally produce power for only about 6 hours a day, it's still a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost of SBSP, and uses technology that is in commercially operation today, not fantasy technology of the future.

A more apt comparison would be concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, which are utility-scale systems that can run 24 hours a day with internal heat-storage technology. These plants generate power for $3,000 to $3,500 per kilowatt and likewise use current, commercially available technology (source). At 11 to 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of production today, on its way to 7 cents per kWh for next generation plants, CSP systems will soon be economically competitive with coal-fired and nuclear electrical generation.

Why would anyone be interested in space-based solar power when commercial utility scale solar technology on the ground today costs 0.3% of its price?

Wild Claims And Hard Realities

Then there are all the other niggling questions about how exactly the power transmission to earth works without, for example, inadvertently frying a plane that happened across its path, or running the risk of destruction on the ground should anything go awry with the system.

Or how the company is so confident that we can deploy as-yet unproven technology at a scale far beyond man's most ambitious space program to date, and do it by 2016.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention: Solaren's director of energy services Cal Boerman claims that after four rocket launches to place the equipment into space, it would not require assembly by astronauts, but instead would unfold on its own. Anyone who has watched the evolution of cutting edge space projects like the Hubble Telescope and indeed, the International Space Station itself, knows of the many problems they have faced with systems that didn't work according to plan. Now Solaren wants us to believe that they can make something 240 times bigger than the ISS with no astronauts needed?

The best comment I found on the Solaren project was from the Motley Fool: "As far as technology commercialization timelines go, space-based solar is likely somewhat ahead of nuclear fusion powered by a rare fuel that's mined on the moon."

The whole plan is pure fantasy as far as I'm concerned. But it's sexy space energy technology, so people just gobble it up.

Those inclined to excitement about such developments view PG&E's proposed contract as verification that there is something real about the project. But I have an alternate interpretation.

PG&E is desperate to contract for enough renewable energy to meet the state's renewable portfolio standard, which currently requires it to produce 20% of its electricity from clean sources by 2010, with a possible new standard of 33% by 2020 in the offing. However, the available supply of renewable energy is nowhere close to that, nor is it growing nearly quickly enough to meet such an ambitious target in an environment of tight credit.

My guess is the utility would be willing to sign a contract with space aliens in pink tutus at this point, if they would guarantee in writing that they would deliver megawatt-hours of clean power before 2020. Mark Toney, head of The Utility Reform Network watchdog group, called the Solaren announcement "remote" and "an act of desperation," preferring that PG&E spend "more time on proven technologies closer to home that we can really count on."

For all the doubts surrounding it, there are a few things about space based solar power that I can virtually guarantee.

One, if the Solaren project fails to round up financing, which is already a problem for earth-based utility-scale systems, or is deployed but fails to meet expectations, no one will publish its failure in big, bold headlines.

Two, it will never scale or be cost-effective on par with existing ground-based solar technology.

Three, if it ever gets off the ground, it will be plagued with technical problems, and in a post-fossil fuel world, it will become impossible to maintain.

Four, the net energy of the whole project will be ridiculously low, and the energy payback period on it will be measured in decades.

Five, it will consume a vast amount of gullible techno-utopian capital.

The Profitable Solar Reality

While that capital is chasing pipe dreams with visions of solar satellites dancing in their heads, the real money will be made by those who have the savvy to invest in the most realistic, functional, scalable, cheap, and high net energy systems on the ground today.

I'm talking about companies like Phoenix Solar AG (FRA: PS4), an international systems integrator of PV systems who builds and operates large solar plants and wholesales specialized parts for power plants. Or Acciona SA (MCE: ANA), a Spanish holding company whose subsidiary Acciona Energy deployed a 46-MW solar PV power plant in Portugal last December for $348 million ($7,565 per kW). Or privately-held Ausra, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, a pioneering provider of utility-scale CSP plants with operations in the US and Australia.

Companies like these will be the real contenders in our race against time to scale up renewable energy and leave fossil fuels behind before they leave us. While the SBSP dreamers are still working on their first hundred megawatts, these leaders will be working on their next hundred gigawatts.

Until next time,

Chris

P.S. Those solar standouts are just two of the ways our Green Chip International members have been pulling out gains during this economic downturn. But I don't want you to just watch while others are taking advantage of this market, I want you to be a part of the action. Simply click here to learn more about Green Chip International.

Alternative Energy Speculator Investments

You can't make money if you don't play.

That's the mantra, right? Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.

If you've been clinging to the sidelines, you just missed one of the best months in market history.

Bear market rally or not, some serious profits were made. I say this not to boast, but to tell you that while recession symptoms still linger, it is possible to start earning back losses or to begin tacking on new gains.

And I want to help you do it, just like I've been helping the thousands of savvy investors that read Alternative Energy Speculator.

They've cashed out of 15 winning positions so far this year — a time frame for which the DOW is still in the red.

That's more than one per week!

Here's the portfolio of closed winners in 2009:

Sold Positions

Company	Symbol	Exchange	Date	Initial	Sold	Status	Sold Date	Percent
GT Solar International	SOLR	NASDAQ	2008-11-13	$2.87	$4.10	Sold	2009-01-15	42.86%
Comverge, Inc.	COMV	NASDAQ	2009-01-15	$4.60	$5.48	Sold	2009-02-06	19.13%
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.	ENER	NASDAQ	2008-11-13	$25.18	$26.01	Sold	2009-02-06	3.30%
SunPower Corporation	SPWRA	NASDAQ	2008-11-13	$25.01	$35.74	Sold	2009-02-06	42.90%
JA Solar Holdings	JASO	NASDAQ	2009-03-03	$1.83	$2.08	Sold	2009-03-04	13.66%
JA Solar Holdings	JASO	NASDAQ	2009-03-05	$1.82	$2.00	Sold	2009-03-09	9.89%
LDK Solar Co.	LDK	NYSE	2009-03-05	$4.52	$5.00	Sold	2009-03-10	10.62%
Renesola Ltd.	SOL	NYSE	2009-03-05	$2.16	$2.38	Sold	2009-03-10	10.19%
Shaw Group Inc.	SGR	NYSE	2009-01-07	$22.24	$24.60	Sold	2009-03-10	10.61%
Comverge, Inc.	COMV	NASDAQ	2009-02-17	$5.13	$5.94	Sold	2009-03-12	15.79%
Flowserve Corp.	FLS	NYSE	2008-11-06	$51.92	$58.94	Sold	2009-03-19	13.52%
ReneSola Ltd.	SOL	NYSE	2009-03-13	$2.15	$2.68	Sold	2009-03-19	24.65%
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.	STP	NYSE	2008-12-11	$9.56	$10.80	Sold	2009-03-26	12.97%
American Superconductor Corp.	AMSC	NASDAQ	2009-01-14	$15.01	$19.08	Sold	2009-04-09	27.12%
Calgon Carbon Corp.	CCC	NYSE	2008-11-06	$14.90	$17.31	Sold	2009-04-09	16.17%

That's over an 18% year-to-date return. Did you make 18% in the first quarter?

An Example and a Guarantee

Here's what I told my readers on January 7^th, 2009:

Alright folks, we've waited long enough.

I really think this infrastructure bull is going to run. And I've been watching the stocks I want to get into climb over the past four days.

This morning presents an opportunity too good to resist. So we're going to pounce.

Here's how we're going to do this. I'll list the stocks we're getting into below, and add them to the portfolio at their current prices.

I'm also posting a new report you can read here, called Infrastructure Investing: Sky-High Underground Profits, that contains more details. I'll post the company profiles shortly.

Here are the stocks.

I went on to list the stocks, along with buy-in prices, that we would use to profit from the upcoming stimulus. We've gone on to close numerous winners from that group, including American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC).

Take a look at how that one turned out for us, compared to how the DOW has done in the same time:

Just yesterday, I sent my readers the alert to close their position in American Superconductor for gains over 27%.

They've received 14 other such alerts so far this year. . . and we're just getting started.

We've taken gains on solar stocks, on wind stocks, on efficiency stocks, on water stocks, and on infrastructure stocks.

All this while we're still in the thralls of a recession. Just wait 'til the market really starts to improve!

That's why I'm so confident I can make money for you now, next quarter, and for many more to come.

And I want you to let me prove myself.

I can't say how many trades you'll get. And I can't prognosticate the percentage gains you'll walk away with.

But I can guarantee you'll make money. And all you have to do is follow the simple advice I give in my detailed updates.

Give me one month to deliver for you like I've been delivering for thousands of other investors.

If you're not happy after one month, I'll give you a full refund, no questions asked.

If you're not a member of Alternative Energy Speculator, you've missed out on 15 winning plays so far this year. Don't miss number 16.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

How to Profit from Energy Illiteracy

Politics is a painfully slow and inadequate way to go about forming an energy strategy, but it seems to be the only way we have.

A new bill submitted by Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), the American Clean Energy and Security Act, would aim to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 20% from 2005 levels by 2020 (vs. the 15% proposed by President Obama), and by 80% by 2050.

The new emission targets are particularly interesting in that it would bring federal law nearly into line with California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (also known as AB 32) which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (a 30% drop) and 80% by 2050.

The proposal includes some requirements to modernize the electrical grid, produce electric vehicles and improve energy efficiency, all of which are crucially important steps toward meeting our energy challenge.

But it is also based on a cap-and-trade market approach to emissions, which I fear could prove a disastrous boondoggle. There is ample evidence that such programs have been a failure in Europe and elsewhere as traders exploited loopholes, and the programs did not produce the expected reductions in emissions.

A simpler, fairer, and virtually exploitation-proof approach to emission controls is a carbon tax. Assigning a price to carbon emissions across the board and raising it gradually would give the market the information it needs to progressively choose cleaner primary energy sources, improve efficiency, and get us where we need to go.

The word "tax" is politically unsaleable, however, and so we carry on doing some of the right things for mostly the wrong reasons.

Instead of worrying about CO2 targets, we should be worrying about how to live within a shrinking budget of fossil fueled energy. As I have mentioned before, studies by professor Kjell Aleklett (Uppsala University) and professor David Rutledge (Caltech) have called into question whether we can even burn enough fossil fuel to reach the 450 ppm target on CO2, given their models of the peaking and depletion of oil, gas, and coal.

Still, there is something encouraging about seeing our ambitions to fight climate change starting to converge with what our energy goals need to be. Climate change, energy, national security, and our overall economic health are deeply intertwined issues, and they must be addressed together if we want real, sustainable solutions.

When 20 Years Is "Imminent"

My study suggests that we will have to live with 25% less energy by around 2025, and 50% less energy by 2050. Starting with peak oil (a flattened peak from 2005-2012), then peak natural gas (around 2010-2020), then peak coal (2020-2030) we are facing the imminent decline of 85% of US primary energy sources.

By the end of this century, most fossil fuels will be kaput, and we'll be relying exclusively on renewable energy (which currently supplies less than 2% of our primary energy), and whatever nuclear energy capacity we can maintain without fossil fuels.

Some may object to my characterization of a 20-year-off peak as "imminent," but in fact, it is.

According to Joseph Romm, the editor of Climate Progress, oil company Royal Dutch Shell claimed in 2001 that it takes 25 years for a primary energy source to reach a 1% share of the global market after its commercial introduction. Based on the histories of solar and wind energy and the fossil fuels, that seems about right.

Once an energy source reaches 1% penetration, we can start making some predictions. A fascinating paper I recently came across (C. Marchetti, "Primary Energy Substitution Models: On the Interaction between Energy and Society," 1977) used statistical analysis to make some startlingly accurate forecasts about oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy 30 years into the future. According to the model, once a given fuel source reaches 1% penetration its success over the next 30 years is essentially "baked in."

Significantly, Marchetti found that it generally takes 100 years for a given source of energy to achieve 50% market penetration. While he did not model renewables in his 1977 study, he did realize that solar and other nascent energy sources could not achieve a significant enough fraction to fill the gap of older fuels by 2050. His conclusion? "Go nuclear or bust."

The Most Profitable Energy Transition The World Has Ever Seen!

On November 12, 2008, the International Energy Agency (IEA) officially confirmed that every fossil fuel resource we rely on today will simply not be able to keep pace with demand.

As a result, the IEA stated in very clear terms that renewable energy will soon become the second largest source of energy.

Want to know which renewable energy source will take the lion's share of tomorrow's power generation?

Click here, and see where the experts are putting their money!

We may rightly take issue with Marchetti's analysis on several points: It does not model renewables or efficiency, nor does it take into account any limits on resource reserves. But his paper was not an attempt to forecast the future of energy; it was simply a statistical model showing how energy sources are progressively exploited and substituted. As such, the implications are sobering for renewable energy and our future energy budget as a whole.

If it takes 25 years for a given primary energy source to reach 1%, and another 100 years to reach 50%, we should be forming our energy policy on at least 50-year time horizons.

We don't, I suspect, for several reasons.

Politics Always Trumps Science

First, 50 years is much too long a period for the political process to contemplate. Thousands of scientific papers have accurately projected the future of various energy sources, and made recommendations accordingly, but they don't survive the process of making policy when elected leaders have short terms in office and constituents who demand results in two years or less. In short, politics always trumps science, to our eternal detriment.

Consider the case of corn ethanol. Before federal subsidies arrived and produced the boom and bust of corn ethanol producers in 2006-2008, scientific research had concluded that with an EROI (energy return on investment, or "net energy") of perhaps 1.2, corn ethanol was an obvious non-starter. There's no way a fuel production process that only returns a 20% net gain can be sustainable (research by Dr. Charles Hall et al. suggests that the EROI needs to be at least 3, if not 5 once all indirect costs are accounted for). Yet their research was ignored, and their pleas to Congress fell on deaf ears; politics trumped science. Only now, after the bust, are people starting to look at the EROI of fuels as an important consideration in policy formulation.

Second, we are simply too afraid of the conclusions to think about them. But this fear is almost never directly acknowledged; we prefer to express it in high-minded pronouncements on the wisdom of free markets, or denial couched in weak science, or faith in human ingenuity.

Third, we have a serious problem of energy illiteracy. A new report from the nonpartisan, nonprofit research group Public Agenda titled "The Energy Learning Curve" reports some stunningly discouraging data from its January 2009 survey of over 1000 American adults:

39% of respondents couldn't name a single fossil fuel.
51% couldn't name an alternative energy source.
65% thought that most of our oil imports come from the Middle East.
56% believe that nuclear energy contributes to global warming, and 31% believe that solar energy contributes to global warming.
68% believe that "The main cause for increases in gas prices is speculators who drive up the price of oil."
More than half don't know that less than 10% of the United States' energy comes from renewable sources. [If you rule out hydro and biomass, neither of which are likely to scale up, and restrict "renewable" to mean only solar, wind, and geothermal, it's less than 2%.]
17% are classified as "Climate Change Doubters." Nearly two-thirds of this group, and 44% of the entire sample, believe that drilling the Outer Continental Shelf and Alaska would eliminate our need for imported oil.
19% are classified as "Disengaged," meaning they don't know and don't care about energy much at all.

I would certainly hope that readers of my column would do much better than this sample. (And if not, they need to pick up a copy of my book Profit from the Peak and study up.)

But our problem isn't just the "dumb public." Congress is chronically full of bad ideas about energy, which I have frequently chronicled in this column, as have been most presidents in recent memory. Even our new Secretary of Energy Steven Chu appears to be desperately mistaken about the potential of biofuels, and the time frame he has to address the peak oil crisis.

The media is little help either, regularly gushing about the trillions of barrels of oil in shales, or the latest "breakthroughs" in cold fusion or water-powered cars, without giving a moment's thought to the flow rates (that is, the only thing that matters) of unconventional oil, or retracting their previous stories when the latest breakthroughs turn out to be mistakes and canards.

Even most cleantech investors know little to nothing about peak oil, or any of the fossil fuels for that matter. Conversely, most oil and gas industry types are broadly ignorant about renewable energy and efficiency, and view it as a threat.

In the face of such ignorance, how much hope can we place in the political process to form sensible energy policy? Even if we did have hope, how much do we really think we can accomplish in the next 40 years, given the conclusions of Marchetti's model?

Forget "Energy Independence"

Right now, our spending on energy research and development, and developing new energy and efficiency measures is less than one-tenth of what sober analysts calculate we would need to spend to make a reasonable transition to the energy regime of the future.

We're also about 20 years too late to begin making that investment if we want the transition to be better than a chaotic, very bumpy ride marked by shortages and horrendous price swings.

An intelligent, sensible approach to our energy future would concentrate first on efficiency and conservation, but it's deemed politically unacceptable to ask Americans to make any sacrifices.

It would support continued drilling and careful stewardship of our remaining domestic oil and gas reserves, but that quickly runs afoul of the green and environmental lobbies that are now in control.

It would put rail and transit oriented development at the top of our infrastructure agenda, but those objectives were too long-range and not "shovel ready" enough to gain any serious traction in the recent federal stimulus package.

It would put a tax on all sources of carbon emissions, and would require the US to reduce its oil consumption each year by the same percentage that global oil production is declining; both suggestions would arouse righteous ire from free market advocates. The "Energy Learning Curve" report found that "Anything that increases the cost of driving is soundly rejected by the public."

It would forget about "energy independence" as a goal (if it were possible at all, it would be at least 70 years in the future) and start thinking instead about how to reconfigure our cities, suburbs, transportation, food supply, energy distribution, economics, and...well, everything...so that it becomes truly sustainable. It would reject the idea of growth completely and start thinking about how to manage the Great Contraction. But I'd wager there isn't a politician in America who would begin to try to sell that.

I don't know how to escape politics and still make policy. Despite my cautious optimism about the new direction the Obama team is taking on energy, their first moves will accomplish little to address the peak oil threat. It looks to me like the impending energy crisis is already a foregone conclusion.

What I do know is that those who do understand energy—who know where it comes from and what our future options really are—may not be able to rise above the din of ignorance to chart us a clear path forward, but they can profit from it. They know that oil under $50 and natural gas under $4 is such a ridiculous giveaway, it might as well be free. They know that renewable energy has a virtually endless upside potential, but that the right technologies to invest in will be ones with a high EROI, a short time to market, and the ability to scale quickly.

Until next time,

Chris

P.S. In addition to buying oil and gas on the cheap right now, I believe some of the best ways to bag quick profits from the coming energy crisis are in the renewable energy and smart grid sectors. Subscribe to the Alternative Energy Speculator today and get a piece of the action while everyone else is still trying to figure out what the future of energy is all about.

Carbon Credit Outlook

There is a major decision looming that could either have catastrophic or meteoric consequences for your portfolio, depending on how you react.

Actually, looming is the wrong word. The decision has been made, it's just not been made official yet.

So one of two things can happen.

You can ignore my warning, tell me I'm wrong, gripe about it and do nothing.

Or you can — like so many others have already chosen to do — face the facts, and prepare your portfolio in a profitable way.

Carbon Credit Outlook

Yes, the decision I'm talking about is the coming regulation of carbon emissions that will make burning fossil fuels much more expensive and alternative sources more competitive.

I'm not here to argue semantics or global warming opinions. It doesn't matter if you think cap-and-trade is a new tax or a conspiracy led by patchouli-doused Democrats; the fact is, if you invest in energy, this decision is going to affect you. So you better prepare.

And when I say the decision has already been made, I mean the decision has already been made.

Here's U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's response, after a two-day trip to the White House:

President Obama and I share a fundamental commitment — 2009 must be the year of climate change. That means reaching a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen by year's end.

And the President — who said he would cap emissions during the campaign — has included $646 billion in revenue in his budget from carbon sales between 2012 and 2019.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund's Mark Brownstein, "We are now playing with live bullets."

As BusinessWeek put it, "The bullets are already flying—but mainly over the details of the plan, not the general idea."

In response, global carbon credit prices on multiple exchanges have been on the upswing. Certified emissions reductions, which are credits derived from Kyoto programs, have risen 47% in the past month, from €7.50 to €11.00. Prices for European credits, called EU Allowances, have gone from €8.00 to €13.00, a 63% rise in the same amount of time.

Stake Your Claim in the Stimulus Goldmine

With $787 billion in pork now sloshing around Washington D.C., one industry in particular stands to grab the lion's share.

And for the investors that get there first, this moneymaking opportunity is one that may just turn out to be the mother lode.

To learn more about the Stimulus Goldmine that could easily double when all of that pork gets spent click here.

Take a look:

Rising carbon credit prices are a firm indication that the U.S. is on track to cap carbon emissions.

But the best proof comes from listening to the head of some of the U.S.'s largest utilities, which would bear the brunt of cap-and-trade costs.

Utilities Want a Price on Carbon

If you want to identify the real reason that emissions will be capped and carbon credits traded, you have to look no further than the utilities that would be getting the short end of the stick.

John W. Rowe, CEO of Exelon (NYSE: EXC), has said that the Obama Administration is "very close to right on the climate plan."

And James Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) — one of the most carbon-intensive utilities — has said he has "great hope for the 'green' stimulus, but it won't fulfill its potential unless there is a price on carbon."

Even the utilities that aren't fully in favor are positioning themselves for what they know is coming. American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) CEO Michael Morris, who thinks the plan is "a clear transfer of the middle part of the country's wealth to the two coasts," is actively engaging senators in coal states to ensure his business isn't slammed too hard. He knows cap-and-trade is on the way, he just wants to soften the blow for his company and constituents.

You should be doing the same.

Yes, Cap-and-Trade Increases Costs

That's sort of the point. . . to make burning fossil fuels more expensive.

To that end, Obama has proposed that companies buy carbon credits worth one ton each at a price between $13 and $20 if they go over their established carbon cap level.

But here's what's important for you, and the reason I've been harping on this topic for so long.

Some of the cost of those carbon credits will be passed on to consumers. Even at the low range of the carbon credit outlook price, BusinessWeek claims "the price of gasoline would go up by 12 cents a gallon and the average electricity bill by about 7% nationally."

Don't get all bent out of shape yet.

Of the $646 billion in government carbon credit revenue predicted over the next few years, $60 billion per year is allocated to offsetting higher energy costs for low- and middle-income families — a plan that has much Republican support.

That will put most of the onus on energy producers, not energy consumers.

In fact, I don't see any onus on consumers at all. I see opportunity.

A portion of that $646 billion —$15 billion per year, to be exact — would be dedicated to "investments in clean energy." And that's how you can put cap-and-trade to work for you.

Mandating the trade of carbon credits is as much about increasing the use of renewables as it is about reducing emissions. Switching your energy investment strategy now is the best thing you can do to prepare for an energy market that's about to see drastic fundamental changes.

In fact, the Environmental Defense Fund has already created a map of 1,200 alternative energy companies that stand to benefit from the plan. That's where you need to be looking for future energy profits.

As you can see, the decision has already been made.

Excoriate it or embrace it. It's up to you.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

PS. Cap-and-trade is only one of the catalysts we're using to generate cleantech profits at the Alternative Energy Speculator. Other legislation is currently being debated in Congress that would offer additional benefits to alternative energy. And the stocks are really starting to respond. In March alone, my readers have closed six winning positions for a total gain of over 70%. If you're ready to make those types of clean energy profits, now is the time to join the Alternative Energy Speculator.

Investing in Clean Energy

We've seen it before.

A newsletter publishes an editorial completely discounting the clean energy industry. Now it's perfectly fine to disagree... whether it's philosophically, fundamentally, politically, etc.

But if you're gonna rip renewables, we only ask that you do your homework.

Here's what I mean. . .

One letter—the furthest thing from an energy expert—ran an article the other day entitled, "Why Clean Energy Doesn't Make Any Sense."

As you can imagine, their rationale was more than laughable, and their logic more than flawed.

They used the PowerShares Wilderhill Clean Energy Portfolio (NYSE: PBW) to represent the clean energy industry, calling it, "one of the worst-performing assets in the world right now."

Here's the chart they used to give ethos to their massive lie:

Indeed, things do look bad for this troubled clean energy ETF. But simply putting up a chart of a worst-in-breed stock is hardly enough to discount the entire industry.

I call that lazy, ignorant and misguided. Here's what they left out...

Cleantech Does Make Sense

Here's that same chart, only this time PBW is compared with stalwart representatives from other industries like Alcoa (NYSE: AA), General Motors (NYSE: GM), GE (NYSE: GE), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Citi (NYSE: C):

PBW, and particularly clean energy, doesn't look so bad now, does it? The cleantech ETF has outperformed blue chips in the banking, automotive, metals, and technology industries over the past two years.

The only thing that doesn't make any sense is a newsletter using a chart of PBW to condemn the clean energy market when many other sectors are, and have been, in a much worse position.

Take a look at that same chart once more. Only this time, I'll add First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), a solar energy leader:

First Solar, and many other cleantech stocks, have outperformed several of the renowned Dow members.

So here's a little lesson on the cleantech reality, for investors and newsletter writers that don't know any better:

Warren Buffett Has Increased His Stake

Some of the world's top investors are swooning over one company. Warren Buffett... T.Rowe Price... even the Obama Administration.

They've all increased their stakes. And you can get in just like they did!

Click here to learn what they're so excited about and how you can profit from it.

Three Reasons Cleantech Will Make You Money

Reason #1: Favorable Legislation

Other newsletters seem to think that "coal and crude oil are the cheapest thing we've got." To think that is to be completely blind to the current legislative environment.

The President has laid out the goal of doubling our use of renewable energy in the next three years. And he's committed to laying 3,000 miles of new power lines to do it. All those activities create profitable market opportunities.

The recently-passed stimulus has a $47 billion cleantech portion that creates tax-based incentives that will lure additional capital back to these markets and renew robust demand.

Congressional leaders have also indicated they intend to pass new energy legislation before the Memorial Day break. That legislation is slated to contain two provisions that will change the energy market as we know it.

The first, cap-and-trade, will make it much more expensive to generate electricity with coal—and make renewables cost-competitive in most markets. The budget currently before Congress allocates $15 billion in revenue per year from such a scheme. Part of that revenue would go to taxpayers to offset the rising cost of energy and part would go to funding new renewable energy projects.

I don't know where you'd get the idea that coal is the "cheapest thing we've got." Wind and solar are now competitive in many areas. And Obama has been quoted saying, "if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can - it's just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted." Doesn't sound too cheap to me.

The second coming energy provision, a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS), would require utilities to generate a certain percentage of their electricity—probably 20% by 2021—from renewable resources. That would create guaranteed minimum demand for wind, solar, and geothermal at much higher level than presently seen—driving up stock prices and your bottom line in the process.

Reason #2: The Non-U.S. Market

Several companies (most of which my Alternative Energy Speculator readers are well-positioned in) have indicated that credit markets are starting to thaw in Europe. The German state development bank (Germany has the largest solar market in the world) KfW has indicated that financing is once again flowing for high quality projects, and new deals will be complete in time for installation by year's end.

Strong solar growth is also slated for Mediterranean countries, which boast some of the highest retail electricity rates in the world. The Italian solar market alone is slated to grow over 3,100% between now and 2015, from 190 MW to 6.2 GW.

As a whole, the global solar market is expected to grow 374% in the same time, from 15.22 GW to 72.17 GW.

And the global wind market is no different. Europe and Asia account for 76.4% of total installations to date, with 54.8% and 21.6%, respectively. Globally, the wind industry will grow 143% by 2015, from 121 GW to 294.2 GW.

The companies providing those solar panels and wind turbines are slated for equally impressive growth—much to the contrary of other observers. And you can harness that growth for your portfolio.

Reason #3: The Alternative Energy Speculator

Of course you can't make money in clean energy if you're constantly misled by other newsletters that don't know enough about it to make profitable recommendations. (As such, they just dismiss it entirely.)

Sure, times are tough. But there's still money to be made when you're being guided by someone who knows the nuances of a specific industry—especially one that's in for such staggering future growth.

Already this year, readers of the Alternative Energy Speculator have closed out five winning plays for total winnings of 121.85%, simply by following my advice on how to play the clean energy market.

That's an average gain of over 24% per closed position. . . all while the market tanked to its lowest levels in more than a decade. And we're ready to cash out on a handful of other plays at any moment.

Indeed, clean energy does make sense—both as an energy source and an investment vehicle—as long as you understand the complex associated industries and are willing to follow expert advice, not the ramblings of energy neophytes.

If you're ready to stop reading rhetoric in lieu of actually making money, the time is now to join the Alternative Energy Speculator.

You'll not only get my latest report on how to profit from the billions afforded cleantech in the stimulus, but you'll also be privy to numerous other reports outlining how to profit from specific industries like solar and wind.

Plus, you'll get access to my interactive portfolio, which has detailed investment reports on each company, along with "buy in" prices and price targets.

And I'll send you instant alerts whenever it's time to buy or sell a stock or there is important industry news.

In addition, you'll also get a copy of the new book, Investing in Renewable Energy: Making Money on Green Chip stocks, which I co-authored with energy experts Jeff Siegel and Chris Nelder.

Wouldn't you like clean energy advice from someone that "wrote the book on it" rather than from other newsletters that make shots in the dark—as we've just seen—in an attempt to get it right?

Join me today. That 121% so far this year is only an appetizer, there are many more winners to come.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Renewable Energy Incentives

Governments around the world have committed more than $200 billion toward technologies to cut dependence on fossil fuels, which should help keep green development moving despite the global economic crunch, an analyst for Deutsche Bank said...

Sooner or later you're going to have to face it. Renewable energy must be a part of your portfolio.

That Reuters article went on to reveal that "Governments in the United States, Europe and Asia have also developed more than 250 policies since July last year that support alternative energy such as solar and wind power and climate-change mitigation."

250 policies! The strongest governments in the world are guaranteeing this industry's success. And in doing so they're also offering you guaranteed profits.

In the U.S. alone, 14% of the recently-passed stimulus has been set aside for renewable energy initiatives—a total of $106 billion. And the EU has dedicated $60 billion to give the industry a boost.

I'm not here to tell you whether it's right or wrong because that's actually quite irrelevant. I'm here to tell you how to prepare your portfolio for drastic changes in the energy market, and even turn a nice profit in the process.

In order to do that you'll have to identify the main areas slated for benefit and, by default, the easiest areas from which to reap profits.

Congress & Cleantech, Sittin' in a Tree. . .

Incentives are coming, just wait and see.

Most important, perhaps, are the new tax incentive rules for solar energy, which I described to Green Chip Review readers like this:

Investors are now able to take a 30% federal refund on the value of a new installation before deducting any state incentives. So a theoretical $100.00 dollar solar system in North Carolina (35% state credit) now only costs the investor $35.00-because both federal and state incentives are calculated from the full price. Best part is, those federal incentives have no cap and the project need only be finished by 2017 to qualify.

In a separate provision, the stimulus allocates $6 billion to pay the fees on $60 billion worth of guaranteed bank loans aimed at getting credit flowing to the sector once again.

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And that's before mentioning the $6.3 billion for energy efficiency grants, the $5.5 billion to put solar and other clean technology in federal buildings, or the $6 billion for improvements to drinking water systems.

There's plenty more, but you get the idea.

But even better than what's been included in the stimulus is what is coming down the Congressional pipeline.

Obama recently said plain as day that "we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy." He called for national cap-and-trade legislation in the same breath.

That would make burning coal much more expensive and renewables all the more competitive, spurring cleantech demand in the process.

And Congress' love affair with the industry doesn't end there.

They're also in the midst of enacting a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that would require all utilities in the country to generate a certain percentage of their electricity with renewable resources, thereby creating a guaranteed market.

Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) has already introduced legislation that would require utilities to generate 25 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2025.

28 states already have such a provision.

For those in favor of these types of policies, years of waiting is now paying off and a fundamental change in the energy market is at hand.

For those opposed, you're worst fears are perhaps being realized.

Either way, there's money to be made. And you'll have to adapt your energy investment strategy to take advantage.

Capitalizing on Cleantech's Coming Advantage

What we're about to witness is a sea change.

The floodgates of demand are about to opened for cleantech companies of all kinds as utilities scramble not only to reduce emissions, but also to increase their use of renewables.

Stalwart American solar stocks are sure to be prime beneficiaries as incentives and mandates spur utility-scale and rooftop installations. Leaders like First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) will be ones to watch as the money starts flowing—perhaps as soon as March 3^rd. And their ~60% skid in light of global economic turmoil presents the perfect buying opportunity.

The wind industry will also benefit, but most of the major players are based abroad. Getting a hold of them via an exchange traded fund like Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy (NYSE: GEX) or the First Trust Global Wind Energy (NYSE: FAN) is probably a smart idea.

Green infrastructure and smart grid companies are also a good place to start looking. The stimulus sets aside well over $5 billion for energy efficiency and smart grid measures and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has already announced he will introduce a new bill aimed at "making it easier to carry renewable energy from often remote locations to urban centers in need of power."

That, too, will create lucrative investment opportunities.

To that end, I've compiled a report that outlines 10 stocks that are about to benefit not only from the billions dedicated to cleantech in the stimulus, but from coming legislation as well.

From smart grid to transmission to clean water, this investment strategy will help you capitalize on nearly all aspects of the coming cleantech awakening and leverage Washington's taxpayer-supported strategies into profits.

Call it like you see it,

Nick