Renewables U.S.A.

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2014-01-05T16:45:00.001-04:00

Happy Holidays !!! to Everyone and a Prosperous New Year 2014 !!!

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Renewable Fuels for Alternative Energy

2012-04-04T23:27:00.000-03:00

The Germans have really taken off when it comes to renewable fuel sources, and have become one of the major players in the alternative energy game. Under the aegis of the nation's electricity feed laws, the German people set a world record in 2006 by investing over $10 billion (US) in research, development, and implementation of wind turbines, biogas power plants, and solar collection cells. Germany's “feed laws” permit the German homeowners to connect to an electrical grid through some source of renewable energy and then sell back to the power company any excess energy produced at retail prices. This economic incentive has catapulted Germany into the number-one position among all nations with regards to the number of operational solar arrays, biogas plants, and wind turbines. The 50-terawatt hours of electricity produced by these renewable energy sources account for 10% of all of Germany's energy production per year. In 2006 alone, Germany installed 100,000 solar energy collection systems.

Over in the US, the BP corporation has established an Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) to spearhead extensive new research and development efforts into clean burning renewable energy sources, most prominently biofuels for ground vehicles. BP's investment comes to $50 million (US) per year over the course of the next decade. This EBI will be physically located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The University is in partnership with BP, and it will be responsible for research and development of new biofuel crops, biofuel-delivering agricultural systems, and machines to produce renewable fuels in liquid form for automobile consumption. The University will especially spearhead efforts in the field of genetic engineering with regard to creating the more advanced biofuel crops. The EBI will additionally have as a major focal point technological innovations for converting heavy hydrocarbons into pollution-free and highly efficient fuels.

Also in the US, the battle rages on between Congress and the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). The GEA's Executive Director Karl Gawell has recently written to the Congress and the Department of Energy, the only way to ensure that DOE and OMB do not simply revert to their irrational insistence on terminating the geothermal research program is to schedule a congressional hearing specifically on geothermal energy, its potential, and the role of federal research. Furthermore, Gawell goes on to say that recent studies by the National Research Council, the Western Governors' Association Clean Energy Task Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all support expanding geothermal research funding to develop the technology necessary to utilize this vast, untapped domestic renewable energy resource. Supporters of geothermal energy, such as this writer, are amazed at the minuscule amount of awareness that the public has about the huge benefits that research and development of the renewable alternative energy source would provide the U.S. both practically and economically. Geothermal energy is already less expensive to produce in terms of kilowatt-hours than the coal that the US keeps mining. Geothermal energy is readily available, sitting just a few miles below our feet and easily accessible through drilling. One company, Ormat, which is the third largest geothermal energy producer in the US and has plants in several different nations, is already a billion-dollar-per-year business—geothermal energy is certainly economically viable.

INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLES

2011-05-28T16:01:00.000-03:00

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THE R&D INDICATOR

The amount of money a corporation spends on research and development is a: good guide to its earnings prospects. Generally, the higher the expenditure in relation to sales, the greater the company’s emphasis on new-product development. Benchmark: 5 % of annual sales spent on research is considered a sizable commitment to research spending. Source: Merrill Lynch Stockfinder Research Service, 165 Broadway, New York 10080.

OPTIONS AS INDICATORS

Often the first sign of a rally in a stock is increased activity in its options. Recommended: Look for newcomers on the “Most Active Options” list in The Wall Street Journal. Then, all you have to remember is …sell high…buy low...Happy climbing!

Leaders

2011-01-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

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Renewables

2010-12-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

Image via WikipediaRenewable energy is necessary for several reasons, least of which is a cleaner environment. First and foremost is independence from foreign oil and the control producing nations can exert on all of our markets. In the winter of 2010 and 2011 foreign oil prices jumped higher because controlling nations know we're experiencing winter, and this has been going on for years.

Despite this, prices for renewable energy still remain high because members along the merchandising chain can't make the profits they require unless their projects are subsidized by some government, an example of this is in Spain. The Spanish government subsidizes a large part of every renewable energy project in that country, something the U.S. won't do.

As an alternative, since 2000 the U.S. government has identified natural gas as a logical and necessary step along the transition to renewable energy. An obscure government document, “Analysis of Strategies for Reducing Multiple Emissions from Electric Power Plants: Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Dioxide, and Mercury and a Renewable Portfolio Standard”, from the Energy Information Administration, Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, treats this transition in detail and makes the call for 20% national renewable energy by 2020.

2010-12-27T01:28:00.000-04:00