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POPSSolar Power From Space! Cool idea: collect solar energy via satellite, convert it into radio signals, beam it down to Earth, and convert it into electricity. As commenters note, it's an idea that's been kicked around since the 1960's. But a new agreement between PG&E and Solaren Corp. means it's likely to actually happen.
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POPSGreen Your Portfolio The new administration's focus on alternative energy is good news for green companies. The ten companies included in this piece offer dividend reinvestment plans.
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POPSThe Best and the Brightest at DOE This pick would certainly fit in with Obama's pattern of hiring extraordinarily smart people: Chu won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. But can he manage the Department of Energy?
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POPSHouse Leadership Battle to Watch Dan Friedman and Richard Cohen of National Journal's CongressDaily report. Implications here could be big, especially on the matter of climate change. For more on that topic, see this recent story: http://www.forbes.com/businessinthebeltway/2008/10/22/energy-green-congress-biz-beltway-cx_jz_1023climate.html
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POPSThe Human-Powered Nightclub Two people dancing produce enough power for one light bulb. That may not be a lot of juice -- but imagine if this technology was deployed in busy areas like train stations, where thousands of people walk all day long.
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POPSTax Credit Victory for Fuel Cell Biz FuelCell Energy, which makes stationary power generators, notched a Beltway win last week with the long-term extension of a tax credit subsidizing fuel cell tech. We mentioned the company's support of the tax credit in this story: http://www.forbes.com/businessinthebeltway/2007/02/14/sunpower-fuelcell-energy-biz-wash-cz_atg_0214fuelcell.html Unfortunately, our bullish call on FuelCell Energy's stock now doesn't look so great. The stock has lost 24%, a hair ahead of the S&P 500's 25% decline, since our story published.
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POPSOffshore Drilling Passes House Pair this story, off our AP feed, with a Washington Post front pager on oil's price retreat over the past two months: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091600247.html?hpid=topnews
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POPSFor renewables: scientists vs. lobbyists From The Economist's profile of a businessperson. A solar executive who thinks the renewable subsidies (also known as the Investment and Production Tax Credits, depending on your perspective, I guess). Hertzberg says, “companies hire lobbyists to chase subsidies rather than hiring scientists to create a better product.” Well, maybe. But if economies of scale mean that solar power keeps getting cheaper (and if long-term trends continue of hydrocarbons getting more expensive), the solar companies are going to be hiring scientists and lobbyists and masseuses and circus entertainers and whoever else they want, because they'll be booming.
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POPSBig Oil as Venture Investor Wall Street Journal, in a special section today, includes a look at how giant oil companies have approached venture investment in energy. Exxon Mobil apparently has no interest. Canada's EnCana regards it as "social investment and supporting innovation." Also discussed is Shell's involvement with Virent Energy Systems, a company we looked at here: http://www.forbes.com/beltway/2008/03/11/virent-ethanol-gasoline-biz-cz_atg_0312beltway.html
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POPSWindy NIMBY An intriguing story about the wind energy industry in upstate New York. Now, corruption, if it's happening, is a legitimate concern. And I can see how a constant humming would be annoying. Vertigo, etc. But I'm not sure I understand the "destroys scenic views" complaint. I mean, windmills look really cool.
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POPSAir Force and Renewables This is a nice read on the role of government's involvement in energy tech. It's also interesting to see SunPower (nasdaq: SPWR) here. That stock is off 40% from a 52-week high but still sells for 5.6 times sales.
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POPSObama: Getting Closer to an Energy Policy Obama suggests tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. So far, he hasn't outlined a comprehensive energy policy. Expect him to pay closer attention to this issue as a response to McCain's ad campaigns
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POPSIdle PS3s cost you $250 a year in energy bills. This may convince you to turn off your consoles. According to research conducted by Australia-based Choice, folks who don't physically turn off their PS3 (by flipping the power button) will add $248.28 to their electric bill a year. An idle Xbox 360 costs $184.32 in energy consumption. Idle Nintendo Wiis cost a mere $23.26. The only consumer electronic product tested that rivals the PS3 is Plasma TVs, which cost $232.10 a year if left powered on.
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POPSNot a bubble but still painful For better or worse? The WSJ's poll of economists says that the boom in oil and food prices isn't an investing bubble but a fundamental shift in supply and demand.
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POPSBuffett Rumors Lift British Utility Shares of Centrica jumped yesterday on talk that billionaire Warren Buffett is building a stake in the the British energy company. It's all rumor at this point but Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has already picked up shares in a couple of other British utilities.
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POPSCan Solar ETFs Shine? There's lots of room for growth in this sector so you know it's just a matter of time before a bunch of new ETFs roll out. Today, Market Vectors Solar Energy (KWT) joins Claymore/MAC Global Solar as the second solar ETF play. The problem these ETFs--and the sure-to-come new ones--wiil face is that solar energy is still a very expensive way to generate energy.
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POPSIs Third Time a Charm for Wind and Solar? Here we go again. The House passes tax credits for renewable energy, tied to raising taxes on Big Oil. As before, this probably will not fly in the Senate. With all the talk about making tax cuts permanent in Washington these days--and a genuine business interest inn being green--it would seem that there should be more momentum behind extending this tax credits. Tying them to oil taxes doesn't work.
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POPSObama's Effect On The Market Author Gary Gordon says it's probably just a coincidence that these ETFs have done better after Obama's comments. But it can't hurt to keep on eye on what the candidates are saying--you might pick up a tip or two.
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POPSSolar Stocks: Go Long Between the drop in oil demand usually associated with a recession--which will produce a corresponding negative effect in solar stock prices--and the government's hesitation to reissue the solar tax credit, Nick Hodge is a long-term bull. He suggests using the recent market sell-off to amass shares of stocks that are now bargain priced. I agree, go long on solar.
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POPSLess Than an Energy Bill It's called an energy bill, but this is not what many lawmakers hoped for. True, it raises fuel economy standards significantly and it boost biofuel production, but it includes basically no incentives for renewables such as wind and solar power. Big Oil got away on this one without a tax increase that would have paid for renewables, but the writing's on the wall for the oil industry--the fuel economy and biofuel hike are aimed at reducing the country's oil appetite. For 2009, the energy debate in Congress shifts to climate change. -- Brian Wingfield
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POPSSolar Breaks The $1 Per Watt Barrier Leave it to Silicon Valley to drive down the cost of a technology. Nanosolar, a company backed with more than $100 million from the likes of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and former eBay president Jeff Skoll has begun cranking out dirt-cheap solar cells using a manufacturing process that doesn't require expensive silicon. The promise: get solar power cheap enough and a lot of environmental problems caused by cheap energy sources such as coal will start to go away.
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POPSNokia's New "Green" Phone In a bid to further boost its green credentials, Nokia is launching the 3110 "Evolve," an energy-efficient phone made partly of recycled plastic. Europe will get the phone first.
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POPSBio Fuel Investors are Bio Fools Josh Wolfe Editor of Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report thinks bio fuel investors are bio fools and is expecting that the hype will leave investors disappointed and poorer. He is getting his subs into Nuclear Energy plays. For more info go to read his recent Nuclear Renaissance story on Forbes.com or subscribe to his newsletter for actual picks. www.forbesnewsletters.com
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POPSGreen Power Using green energy to power your home may not be as hard as you think. Ask your electric utility to switch you to an alternative source.
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POPSIEA Gives Stark Oil & Gas Outlook The IEA's latest medium-term forecasts suggests the tight balance between the growth in supply and demand for energy will remain tight as the global economy expands, and thus that oil prices will stay in their current range for some time to come.
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