CBS MarketWatch ran an interesting story last week on brokerage and investment banking concern Jesup & Lamont and their analysis of small cap stocks in the renewable space. The video above was recorded at a conference the company sponsored and Brian Yerger takes the viewers through the rationale of alternative energy (we prefer renewable, there’s nothing alternative about technologies that have been used for millennia) stocks moving into the mainstream for investors, particularly institutions. Geothermal player Ormat and solar PV installer Akeena are mentioned prominently in the clip.

Links:
CBS MarketWatch Article
Ormat (ORA)
Akeena (AKNS)

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It’s being widely reported that T. Boone Pickens and Mesa Wind have placed an order for 667, 1.5MWe wind turbines as the first 25% of what will be the largest wind farm on the planet. The order, worth $2B and awarded to GE, will result in a plant in the Texas Panhandle that can power some 300,000 homes. Curiously, if one were to invest in a geothermal complex that could power the same number of homes, it would be 300MWe and cost about $900M. Sounds like it’s time for more education!

Any way you cut it though, this is a great step to see an oil tycoon recognize the profit to made by supplying energy when the fuel is free. The only question we have is, what took so long?

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This week, CNBC published an article on the hot geothermal stock sector where companies like Ormat (NYSE: ORA) and US Geothermal (AMEX: HTM) are outperforming the S&P last year, Ormat by 40%. There are a number of interesting facts & figures along with a couple of very interesting assertions.

The article states that investment in the sector is now $3B, up 183% year over year. It goes on to say that half of that investment comes from foreign players on US soil, notably from Iceland (Glitnir & Geysir Green Energy) and Italy (Enel.) Another interesting aspect pull out of the article is that the “smart money” in private equity has taken note, pouring in over $400M in 2007.

Of the projects on the board, some $31B of additional investment will be required which will boost geothermal electricity sales to over $11B per year, up from the present level of $1.8B per year.

Switching gears, Arvind Sodhani of Intel Capital warned of a cleantech bubble when recently interviewed by the Financial Times. Sohani’s thesis is simple and logical, when equity valuation becomes disconnected from intrinsic value of assets, a bubble occurs and a crash inevitably follows. Almost certainly there is bubble risk the solar and wind segments, and arguably, the ethanol segment bubble has already popped.

As always, there are conflicting views on the world of cleantech. The facts demonstrate that the industry remains hot and the hope is that it can survive the bubble and thrive in the long-term.

Links:
CNBC: Investment In Geothermal Industry Heating Up
FT: Intel Capital Warns of Cleantech Bubble

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Photo Credit: inigo.txg
In Iceland, there is a well known Resort and Spa called the Blue Lagoon which owes its existence to Hitaveita Suðurnesja, who drilled for the geothermal fluid found in the region. The wells are as deep as 2,000 meters (~6,500′) and the extracted fluid attains a temperature of 243°C (~470°F.)

This geothermal fluid is then used to heat freshwater for central heating purposes and to produce electricity. The power plant provides about 17,000 people with hot water for central heating and about 45,000 people electricity.

The geothermal fluid, now a cooler temperature and essentially “waste water,” is piped directly to the Blue Lagoon where people enjoy relaxing in the warm aquamarine lagoon and benefit from its unique active ingredients: minerals, silica and blue green algae. The lagoon holds approximately six million liters of geothermal waste water at around 40°C (104°F.) The lagoon water supply is completely refreshed every 40 hours. Visitors from all over the world come to the Blue Lagoon for the waters positive effect on the skin, they bath, have mud treatments, and every other spa/resort type activity you can think of.

The combination of the power plant, the heating system, and the resort make very good use of the geothermal resource – who would have guessed that the waste product could not only be valuable, but is also beautiful.

Links:
Blue Lagoon Resort

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A few weeks ago Thomas Blakeslee of the Clearlight Foundation wrote an Op-Ed piece on the coming baseload power crunch which was very good. Blakeslee takes on our propensity as humans to want to gather and burn fuel in his latest intentionally pejorative piece The Folly of Fueled Power Plants at Renewable Energy World. The comments are as enlightening as the core article.

Links:
The Coming Baseload Crunch
The Folly of Fueled Power Plants
Clearlight Foundation

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