LONDON (Reuters) - European investors are returning to green technology stocks after switching to safer investments earlier in the recession, and companies involved in energy efficiency and biofuel production show the most potential.

Interest in the clean technology sector is running high as governments set emissions targets and unveil subsidies for technologies to combat climate change, and as companies work on generating power from wind, waves and whisky leftovers.

“What are the game changing possibilities? You’re looking at wave, tidal, second-generation biofuels,” said Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, Managing Director of listed equity funds at Impax, a specialist environmental investment company.

Just this week, U.S.-based Khosla Ventures raised more than $1 billion for renewable energy and clean technology funds, the largest clean-tech dedicated fundraising by a single venture capital firm since 2007.

Impax has also seen money start to come in again from the beginning of the second quarter, though this has not yet returned to the levels it was seeing in 2007.

Analyst Jean-Marc Bunce at Nomura Code says the trick is to determine which firms are on the verge of commercializing their technology and which will fall by the wayside as investors lose patience.

“They will be increasingly polarized between the ones who are delivering in terms of commercial roll-out and in terms of revenue and cash generation, and those will be increasingly in favor. And then we will continue to see a fall out of those that have not delivered in terms of technology,” he said.

Among fuel-cell makers, Bunce believes Ceres Power, which is developing combined heat and power units with Centrica’s British Gas division, and Ceramic Fuel Cells will continue to flourish. Shares in both have already more than doubled this year.

Companies that help people easily improve the energy efficiency of homes and offices are also gaining steam, such as BGlobal, a provider of household smart meters giving data on energy use that has seen its shares double in value since the start of the year.

In this sector, broker Brewin Dolphin has a “buy” rating on Eaga and forecasts good growth in the firm’s outsourcing and renewables activities.

“I think that most of technology that will likely come to commercialization will be energy efficiency technology, rather than power generation technology, said David Cunningham, analyst at brokerage Arbuthnot.

MAKING WAVES

In terms of technologies that can really revolutionize the way power is generated, Impax’s Jenkyn-Jones is “cautiously optimistic” about long-term prospects for wave and tidal power generation, pointing to privately held Pelamis, which produces power from a machine that looks like a floating snake.

Cunningham sees potential in a buoy device developed by Renewable Energy Holdings, but he feels the best bet for investors in this area are technologies that don’t involve generating power offshore, such as hydroelectric.

Cunningham believes largescale commercialization of wave power, which has promised clean energy for decades, is unlikely for the next 10 years, given it has yet to show consistent, cost-effective performance under harsh offshore conditions.

“Fund managers and investors should be investing in traditional businesses that have proven reliable sources of power generation, not in R&D shops that may never get out of the laboratory,” he said.

BUGS & BINS

Next generation biofuels, which can use bugs and chemical reactions to turn plant material into fuel, are starting to deliver useable technology, however.

Jenkyn-Jones picked out Danish enzyme giant Novozymes, whose enzymes can be used to convert foodstuffs such as corn into bioethanol, and U.S. company Ensyn, which is converting wood waste into an oil-like product.

In Brazil, the largest producer and exporter of renewable sugar cane-based ethanol, the market has stalled in 2009 as a result of lower demand and recent over-investment, but biofuels investor Clean Energy Brazil says it remains promising.

“Long-term, there’s a lot of excitement, and it’s really the most efficient fuel we can get,” the firm’s finance director John Koutras told Reuters.

Elsewhere, shares in Helius Energy have almost doubled this year on its plans to use waste products from Scottish whisky distilleries to generate power.

Generating power from household waste is another promising technology, with water company Pennon moving into this area via its Viridor unit. Jenkyn-Jones highlighted Covanta and Shanks as companies to watch in this area.

“Waste is a much lower-cost source of energy than wind,” says Viridor CEO Colin Drummond, highlighting that a plant fueled by waste can operate 80-90 percent of the time.

He believes that by 2020 waste could meet up to 6 percent of the UK’s total energy needs, up from 1.5 percent currently.

“What I find amazing is that the politicians seem to be ignoring it. I find that absolutely incredible.”

(Editing by Paul Hoskins/Will Waterman)

Source: By Victoria Bryan and Ben Deighton - Analysis

Image: Another Limited Rebellion

Singapore’s ambition to become Asia’s carbon trading centre will take some time to be realized, even as the nascent industry expands and global momentum gathers to restrict pollution.

The Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore chairman Edwin Khew said yesterday carbon trading here could take till 2011 to kick off in a big way, when the first phase of Singapore’s 55ha Cleantech Park is completed.

Carbon trading aims to curb emissions which add to global warming by placing a price on carbon, and allowing emission permits to be traded between firms.

The Cleantech Park will provide companies with a ready testing ground for their technologies, and set standards for users in carbon emissions, energy use, and water and waste management.

“I think the park will be where the industry will revolve,” said Mr Khew, pointing out that Singapore’s position as Asia’s financial centre will help in fulfilling its carbon trading ambition.

The Republic is home to foreign banks such Fortis, HSBC and Standard Chartered which provide financing for renewable energy products. It has also attracted the big boys such as Danish wind power firm Vesta and Norwegian solar giant Renewable Energy Corp, he said.

As global momentum gathers for carbon trading schemes to be set up, such as in the United States and Australia, trading activity will also spike and Singapore is well poised to tap on this, said chief executive Henry Derwent of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

New exchanges such as the Singapore Mercantile Exchange – a commodities futures exchange that will be operational by the end of the year – could see some carbon trading when this happens, said Mr Khew.

Both men were speaking at an event that was a curtain-raiser for the two-day Carbon Forum Asia in October, organized by IETA and German firm Koelnmesse.

The carbon market doubled from US$63 billion (S$91 billion) in 2007 to US$126 billion last year, according to the latest World Bank data.

Asia still commands the lion’s share – 92 per cent – of carbon credit projects, said Mr Darwent.

The speed of its development will depend on negotiations in Copenhagen in December, when a global deal is set to be brokered.

These talks and the future of the carbon industry will top the agenda at the upcoming conference, which brings together policymakers and businesses from 24 countries in the region.

For the first time, it will be held in conjunction with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change DNA Forum, which brings together regulators from countries that are allowed to generate carbon trading credits for trading.

Also known as Designated National Authorities (DNA), these governmental representatives regulate the carbon credit projects in their home countries on behalf of the UN.

Source : By Jessica Cheam (The Straits Times, Friday, August 21, 2009)

Images : LNGpedia, Sustainable Singapore

Singapore’s green industry has been given another boost.

The first electric vehicle (EV) charging station that harnesses energy solely from the sun was launched yesterday.

It traps sunlight using four roof-mounted panels to generate an average of 3.15kwh a day – enough to charge four electric scooters a day.

Located at the Singapore Polytechnic, the $30,000 standalone station is an expansion of Greenlots, a network of charging spots for EVs being built here by Singapore-based green energy company Zeco Systems.

There are currently four Greenlots: at Ikea’s outlets in Tampines and Alexandra Road, at the Insead campus and at the Swiss Club. But these tap into Singapore’s main power grid.

While Singapore is keen to embark on viable green technology, the enthusiasm for EVs seems to be taking a long time to transform into reality.

Only three electric scooters, each costing about $8,000, have been sold since they were launched here in January.

“Consumers are not buying EVs because of the lack of places to charge them,” said Mr Jan Croeni, managing director of Zeco Systems.

“Infrastructure is also not being set up because of the low demand for EVs,” he added, calling it a “chicken-and-egg issue”.

Agreeing, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) Edwin Khew cited the example of cars using compressed natural gas (CNG).

“CNG is cheaper but the problem was a lack of infrastructure. There were only two filling stations until the new one opened at Old Toh Tuck Road near Jurong East recently. Before it did, the lines of cars waiting to fill up were long,” he said.

There are currently about 4,200 CNG vehicles here.

Mr Croeni said his company hoped to launch more Greenlots as part of Singapore’s Green Plan 2012.

Source : By Judith Tan (The Straits Times, Tuesday, August 18, 2009)

Image : iCars Singapore

It is six in the evening on a weekday - knock-off time. Thinking about the night out with friends that awaits, a worker grabs her personal effects, dumps them into her handbag and makes a hasty exit.

She forgets to turn off her workstation.

Sounds familiar?

Multiply that scenario countless times - from careless use of IT gizmos - and the energy wasted is unforgivable.

Hewlett-Packard estimates that a computer left on for an entire year releases about 680kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

So, it has come up with a desktop widget that calculates the energy saved when people turn off their PCs in three scenarios:

• - Personal wastage;
• - Group wastage;
• - Estimated cars off the road, based on reduction in carbon emissions.

Download and install the widget (from www.hp.com/powertochange) and it will compile this data based on the time your computer remains turned on, active or idle.

If nothing, the calculations should induce a tinge of guilt, and get you to be more eco-responsible.

The widget is part of its global campaign to send a message of collective effort, entitled Power To Change and in line with World Environment Day (WED), which was on June 5.

“The most prominent global environmental issue we face today isn’t really about poisons,” said Pete Ekstedt, director of HP Asia-Pacific and Japan, refer to toxic pollution.

This includes emissions from mining or production, or seepage of chemicals from discarded products like batteries and lead paint.

Bringing up an oft-repeated point about climate change, he said that increased levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to global warming.

“Left unmitigated, this is likely to trigger a range of environmental problems threatening agriculture, natural habitats and communities in low-lying coastal areas.”

Global warming is one of the main issues to be re-examined during WED, a yearly event started by United Nations in 1972 to raise global awareness on the issue.

This year’s theme is Your Planet Needs You - Unite to Combat Climate Change.

HP is not the only IT giant playing its part to combat global warming.

American telco company AT&T showed, conversely, how it uses technology to save the environment. It hosted its biannual Asia-Pacific regional customer meeting using telepresence smarts. In all, 21 customers from 15 companies, and 15 AT&T staff in 10 locations, attended.

The savings from this e-meeting versus travelling for face-to-face meetings?

More than US$100,000 (S$146,000), plus an equivalent of more than 62 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Environmental Challenge Organisation (ECO) Singapore, however, thinks that there is far more to the picture than just global warming.

“It is the manfuacturing and disposal of IT products that is not given enough attention even though these cause greater damage to the environment,” said its president Wilson Ang.

“Technology has advanced quickly. New innovations are very easy to access. They are discarded when the next new product comes along. This creates a cycle of more and more electronic waste piling up worldwide.

“Singapore is not exempt from this. Many of our electronic products hardly last us for more than three years - even less,” said Wilson.

The key, he said, is to cultivate a green consciousness. For example, buy green products and dispose of gizmos, from batteries to PCs, properly.

And, yes, switch off the PC before you leave the office.

- Ian Poh. The Strait Times, Digital Life, Wednesday, June 10, 2009