Alternative Energy News Archives
Saturday 28th of January, 2006
Renewable energy gets second wind on AIM ★★★★
The Sunday Times, appx. 1448 wordsWhile Fans of renewable energy argue that the fundamentals have improved
, the history of alternative energy companies on the stock market has been anything but stable:
One of the leading British-based funds, Merrill Lynch New Energy Technology, saw its share price fall 90% from November 2000 to the beginning of 2003, since when it has rebounded 270%
This article discusses renewable energy companies on markets such as the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the difficulties of valuations for many of these 'potentials', and what the future may hold in this sector.
The article is chock full of numbers. Some quotables
General Electric... said that the total installed capacity in wind energy worldwide is 48GW (gigawatts), and cites forecasts from analysts that this will grow to 117GW by 2009. Its biggest sale on this side of the Atlantic has been seven giant turbines at Arklow, off the east coast of Ireland.
Clipper Windpower, an American turbine maker quoted on AIM... expects to deliver 155 of its wind turbines in 2006, worth an estimated $400m (£225m), according to analysts.
BP, which plans to invest $1.8 billion in renewable energy over the next three years, is already the world’s third-biggest producer of photovoltaic cells.
[In 2006] the UK will have a total electricity-generation capacity of 75GW (gigawatts), with 35% coming from coal-fired stations, 38% from gas turbines, 22% from nuclear and only about 3% from renewables, including hydroelectric. The selling price of that power will be nearly £20 billion.
Gasohol pumps may soon be running dry ★★
The Nation, appx. 797 wordsSome growing pains from the increasing popularity of ethanol in Thailand, where the government looked to decrease it's trade deficit by producing ethanol from locally derived goods. Somewhat ironically, demand for the fuel had outstripped local production and forced suppliers to import. From the article:
The situation is tough for the government. We’re facing complicated problems with regard to the supply of sugar-cane, molasses and cassava, which are domestic materials for ethanol,said Chumnong Sorapipatana, energy chairman at the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment at King Mong-kut's University of Technology Thon Buri.
As a result of the lack of sugar and molasses, three ethanol plants have had to freeze production, and the construction of another 18 plants has been delayed.
Worth noting:Gasohol consumption [in Thailand] has skyrocketed from just 200,000 litres per day in 2004 to the average daily of 1.8 million litres in 2005.
Energy chiefs rule out impending energy crisis ★★★
People's Daily Online, appx. 178 wordsSome interesting quotes from the annual meeting of World Economic Forum, where energy experts outlined that there are adequate world energy supplies, and the market and governing energy institutions are able to absorb energy shocks
.
Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, stated to the effect that easy oil may have peaked... but high oil prices are providing the public and private sectors with the incentive to invest in discovering alternative sources of energy
Fatih Birol, Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency, agreed that diversification will be necessary and that nuclear energy will have to be looked at more closely by the likes of the EU and the US.
