Plug-In Hybrids clean cars get boost from President Obama statement

In his answer to a question about the government's role as a major shareholder in USA auto companies, President Barack Obama stated:

I am not an auto engineer, and I can't design an affordable, plug-in hybrid automobile, but if Japan can create a hybrid car then doggone it, the American people can do it too. But we're not interested in growing government or staying in for the longterm... as soon as things get better we'll be looking to sell our stakes to private investors.

After opening with an update on the growing swine flu problem, Obama took questions from the media about his first 100 days in office. He gave articulate, even eloquent answers, and as a Canadian I must say it is refreshing to once again have an American President with a solid grasp of the critical issues and an ability to define the most logical proposed solutions.

Green Energy Stocks News Research April 2009 Update

Here are some clean power industry blog posts, news articles, and other online updates regarding alternative energy companies and investing in renewable power:

First Solar (FSLR) secures financing for 53 Megawatt German project

Renewablenergystocks.com Earth Day Solar Innovation with J. Peter Lynch; Solar Energy is FREE!

Green Stocks to Benefit from Recent EPA Ruling, Proposed Climate Change Bill

Diesel Brewing developing biomass / biofuel project in Oregon

10 Clean Energy Stocks for Post-Bush Rally; Green Power Investing

China Investing in Solar, Wind, Geothermal and green fuels

New global cooling systems and technology

Spire Corp (SPIR) surprises with big earnings, beat analyst estimates

China and the USA compete in global solar energy industry

Existing Fleet Conversion provides immediate economic and environmental benefits

Hy-Drive injects hydrogen to boost mileage and lower emissions

Hy-Drive Technologies (HGS-V) is in the final phase of a Hydrogen Generating System (HGS). The HGS generates, on-demand, and injects small amounts of hydrogen gas into the combustion chamber of a regular internal combustion engine creating an enriched air mixture and a more complete and faster burn of the air-fuel mixture. The result is reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency and torque.

The initial application of Hy-Drive’s technologies is its proprietary "on-board" hydrogen and oxygen gas generation and injection system for internal combustion engines. The initial target markets for Hy-Drive are the existing commercial diesel-powered trucks and buses in the "after-market".

Hy-Drive HGS stock quote

The Time is Right for Gas-guzzler to Dual-mode EV Conversions

Since early 2008, Axion Power International (AXPW.OB) has been quietly developing an experience base and building grass roots support for a gas-guzzler to dual-mode EV conversion initiative that has the short-term potential to transform up to 120 million gas-guzzling pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans into gas sipping EV-50s. If recent articles from sources as diverse as The Daily Green, Edmunds Green Car Advisorand the Environmental Defense Fund are reliable indicators, the initiative is rapidly gaining ground.

The concept is simple – add electric power trains and battery packs to America's least fuel-efficient vehicles and give them 50 miles of plug-in EV range coupled with unlimited internal combustion range. The potential benefits to the economy are enormous because the U.S. could slash gasoline consumption by a billion gallons per year for every 1% of the gas-guzzler fleet that's converted to dual-mode. It's also a solution that could be immediately implemented using domestic products and create untold thousands of new cleantech jobs.

 
The first public discussion of Axion's gas-guzzler conversion initiative was in Dr. Edward Buiel's testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources last July. A few months later, Andrew Grove, the former chairman of Intel, published an article in McKinsey Quarterly titled "An Electric Plan for Energy Resilience" that approached the topic from a slightly different perspective. While Dr. Buiel's testimony focused on using lead-acid batteries and Mr. Grove's article focused on using Li-ion batteries, both men reached the same conclusion: that gas-guzzler to dual-mode EV conversions are the most cost effective baby-steps America can take in its drive for energy independence.

Full online article about converting gas-guzzling vehicles to electric-gas hybrids.

Post-Bush Rally in Equities sees green stocks UP BIG: FCEL, SOLR, SPWRA

Thursday April 09th 2009 was another stellar day in this new green energy stocks bull market. Here are some clean power companies that delivered yesterday:

A-Power Energy Generation APWR 5.79 +1.32 (29.53%) 189.37M



FuelCell Energy Inc FCEL 2.97 +0.35 (13.36%) 204.98M



GT Solar International SOLR 6.97 +0.82 (13.33%) 995.78M



SunPower Corp SPWRA 26.04 +2.64 (11.28%) 2.24B



Yingli Green Energy YGE 7.31 +0.73 (11.09%) 927.81M



Ener1 Inc HEV 5.75 +0.56 (10.79%) 652.48M



Ballard Power Systems BLD 2.59* +0.21 (8.82%) 212.70M



JA Solar Holdings JASO 3.43 +0.27 (8.54%) 575.86M

New Green Energy Bubble may take years to burst

Considering that the global credit markets collapse deflated a still-forming alternative energy stocks bubble in 2008, the 80 to 90% drops experienced by quality clean green power companies have set the stage for a multi-year rally in renewable power stocks.

New developments in areas such as thin film solar, concentrated solar, wave energy / tidal power, geothermal energy, flywheels, offshore windpower, the list goes on and on, mean that public and private sector investments will provide increasingly cleaner and more diversified energy generation. It is still early days and for those who have not yet set up dollar cost averaging programs into green power mutuals funds, it is a prudent strategy when included in a portfolio including cash, bonds, and even real estate! One great rule of thumb that is an excellent starting place is to utilize your age for the perecentage of assets to be held in cash and government bonds. A 30 year old would have just 30% in these shorter term securities, while a 70 year old finds that over 2/3 of her portfolio will always be secure, if proper rebalancing occurs. If the past year hasn't taught people the importance of rebalancing to lock-in gains, then they are probably not ready to re-invest in battered equity markets to restore the growth portions of their portfolios now. Many will compound the error of not rebalancing before, by not rebalancing now. A very conservative investor should add 15 or 20% to their age, while a more growth oriented longer term investor may want to subtract 10 or 15 years from her age percentage, with the subsequent higher risk / higher reward profile.

My initial prognosis (formed a decade ago when many names were still vencap) that the publicly-traded clean power stocks would top out in 2008/2009 was hastened and deepened by the world financial crunch, so rather than facing a 3 to 4 year rally, we are likely looking at a post-Bush rally in global equity markets that may last 5 to 7 years. Many PV solar and wind energy companies are dirt cheap nowadays, and they and other green power stocks will provide torque to global equity funds for most of the next decade.

Peace 2 all,

Joe College

Geothermal Power best choice for USA West base load electricity

If you view the USA geothermal energy map above (at the top of this geothermal power stocks blog homepage), you'll see that almost all of the western United States (Untied States?) is within easy transmission distance of geothermal energy fields.

Here are some geothermal energy links for the new clean energy investor, for those just learning about the massive global potential of clean green geothermal electric power:

Best Geothermal Energy Stocks Investments


Case for Geothermal Energy as Reliable Electricity Baseload Supply


Clean-Energy-Ideas.com Geothermal Power Information web page


USA and Canada Geothermal Power Company Website Links


Geothermal Power Plants explained, natural energy production


Geothermal Power webpage on Wikipedia.org


UPEI Introduction to Geothermal Energy



More Clean Power Investing Info:

WindIntell.com Top Windpower Stocks website

PVintell.com Best Photovoltaic Solar Companies

SolarIntell.com Solar Energy Renewable Power research

3 Diversified Stocks with green energy revenue for post-Bush rally

Most clean energy investors are looking for the pure play, the renewable power stock with the potential to be a ten-bagger or more. The top pure alternative energy stocks include First Solar (photovoltaic thin film solar energy), Vestas (top global wind power company) and Ormat Tech (leading geothermal energy stock), but here are some ways to play the global stock market post-Bush rally with more diversified companies that have a strong clean energy component:


General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)

One of the world's biggest companies, GE has seen its market cap fall from $400 billion to 100 bil as its stock plummeted from 38.52 to the current 9.54. General Electric is leading global player in both solar power and wind energy and is also a force in water purification and water desalination technology. The prevailing global doom and gloom means you can pick up shares in this behemoth at only 5.3 times trailing earnings, and their GE Energy division keeps you in the clean power game.

And the yield is 13%!!!


Kaydon Corporation (NYSE:KDN)

If you read KDN's description on Google Finance, you'll learn their products include bearing systems and components, and filters and filter housings, as well as custom rings, shaft seals, linear deceleration products, specialty balls, fuel cleansing systems, gas-phase air filtration systems and replacement media, industrial presses and metal alloy products.

What's not so easy to ascertain is that Kaydon is a major supplier of ball bearings and other components to the wind turbine industry. If you believe windpower has plenty of growth potential on land and offshore, KDN is worth considering for your portfolio.

At Friday's close of 26.54, the stock is less than half its 52 week high of 61.57, trades at a PE of 12.97 and yields 2.5%.



American Superconductor Corp (NASDAQ:AMSC)

Although AMSC is highly leveraged to the wind energy industry, their leading edge programmable power electronic converters and high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires allow them to sell their products to both wind farm developers / operators and to electric utilities in general. A recent sale of their dSVC technology to California utility Southern California Edison (SCE) included this in the press release:

AMSC's dSVC allows electric utilities to optimize power delivery directly at the grid's critical load-serving points by automatically adjusting the reactive power supply in real time to meet their customers' ever-changing electricity demands.

I believe that bodes well for the future, and means that AMSC will likely be working with electricity grid productivity firms such as Comverge (NASDAQ:COMV) and Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON) .

At 15.48 (down from $47), this high growth technology stock has tremendous blue sky potential.

Keep the faith,

Joe Trainor, CIM, Editor
Green Stocks Investing Blog

More online alternative energy stocks research:

Photovoltaic Solar Stocks Investing

Geothermal Power Company Info

Wind Energy Investing Links

Green Energy Stocks Investing