Earth Day 2006: Hide Under the Covers or Get to Work

April 16, 2006 – Vol.11 No.4

EARTH DAY 2006: HIDE UNDER THE COVERS OR GET TO WORK?

Oil at $75 a barrel. In the US that means gas at $3 a gallon - minimum.

The endless war in Iraq equals continued upward pressure on oil prices.

Iran is parlaying its oil profits into nuclear power. Comments from Iran’s government alone drive oil higher.

China and India are building oil-driven economies. Huge human populations mean huge car populations.

The US Congress sits on its hands or throws them in the air. They’re afraid to move or don’t know what to do. Bush still wants hydrogen, but now also supports plug-in hybrids, the better near term solution. He needs to push that technology.

Even a major US utility is concerned about our energy future. Mayo A. Shattuck, chairman and president of Constellation Energy, said this in a press release regarding a planned 72 percent increase in electric rates:

"The rate stabilization plan is optional; it provides the time for customers to plan for the inevitable impact of a global energy crisis."

Global Energy Crisis. There it is. In print.

Peak oil? We’ll know when we’ve reached peak after it happens; when we’re on the downward slope, a long time after the data comes in.

Global warming? No one is denying that the planet is warming, its ice caps melting. The only skepticism is in its cause.

All too depressing? Better to seek the fantasy land of television, movies and fictional novels?

Don’t.

There’s more than a glimmer of hope, reasons to get out of bed in the morning and get to work.

Renewable energy is now mainstream energy. America’s large corporations are suddenly interested. In most any technology - green fuels to green power generation - big money is ready to listen and to invest.

General Electric, which jumped into the wind and solar energy business a few years ago and launched a whole initiative - Ecomagination - to pursue greener technologies, has now dipped its toes into the power of the cold oceans with a loan and equity position with Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) of Scotland.

GE has extended a $2.6 million loan facility to OPD and will take an equity position as part of OPD’s $22.5 million equity raise.

OPD is in the midst of installing its first commercial wave power plant off the coast of Portugal utilizing its Pelamis wave power generators. If all goes well with OPD, expect GE to slowly increase its influence with the company.

One of the world’s largest power companies, AES, has decided to create an Alternative Energy division and put $1 billion in a kitty to invest in alternative energy businesses and greenhouse gas reduction projects.

The moneys will be spent over the next three years by tripling investment in wind energy and put money into biomass and liquified natural gas terminals. The company already has 600 megawatts of wind energy in its portfolio and wants to add another 2000 megawatts worldwide.

Further, there’s no shortage of inventions and startup companies willing to supply the world’s clean energy needs. Any of those inventions or companies may someday catch the eye of big corporations or Wall Street and move forward.

In the 2006 Ignite Clean Energy Competition, sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum, 10 finalist startup companies offered a wide range of possibilities:

-- BiOctane proposed a waste oil and waste glycerol facility to make biodiesel, ethanol and hydrogen under one roof.

-- Feed Resource Recovery plans to collect food waste from restaurants and farms to convert it fertilizer for farmers and biomethane gas for powerplants.

-- Hydrophen proposes using nano-membrane technology to produce high-purity hydrogen presumably for fuel cells.

-- NatEl would like to utilize low-head dams for hydropower generation using its Linear HydroEngine (tm) technology.

-- Oceanwind Technology wants offshore wind turbines to be installed on floating platforms it has designed.

-- Prototaxis Solar, Radiant Apparatus, Stellaris Corporation, Synergetic Power Systems, and Eagle Axis all are working on a variety of new ideas for solar energy.

The event was geared to introduce the competitors to a network of investors and industry experts that can help the companies grow. The 10 finalists will compete on May 9 for $125,000 in prizes to be used in business development.

The money, the interest, the technology and the inventions are there to make great changes in energy. What isn’t there is the political leadership, the willingness and strength to stand up to the entrenched status quo. There’s an election in the US in a few months. That may be the place to start down the road of real change.

Visit GE at http://www.gepower.com/ Ocean Power Delivery at http://www.oceanpd.com/ , AES corporation at http://www.aes.com/ and the Ignite Clean Energy competition at http://www.ignitecleanenergy.com/ .