Alternative Energy Today

Since June 18th, we have been saying that the development of alternative energy sources and becoming not only energy independent but also becoming an oil exporting nation is a matter of national security.  On that day, we predicted that oil would be at $20 a barrel by 2020.

If there was ever any doubt in your mind as to the accuracy of our statements or the true nature of OPEC’s place in the world, today’s news should clarify it once and for all time.  As oil was heading north toward $140 a barrel and beyond, the OPEC nations said they weren’t trying to make it that high.  This they said as they were relishing with glee at all the income that was flowing into their coffers as we simultaneously found ourselves being economically weakened as a country by the outflow of petro dollars.

We watched at an enriched Iran thumbed its nose at the world’s attempt to divert their intention to build nuclear weapons.  We watched as Russia found itself able to once again flex its military might thanks to its new found petro wealth.  We also watched as Hugo Chavez, a two bit thug dictator used the power of his rising petro fortune to try to buy some legitimacy on the international stage while building his military prior to beginning his imperialistic exploits.

Now as oil is hovering in the $70 range, higher than it was even last year and a far cry from the $42 range we saw in 2004, the major oil producers of the world are meeting to plot how to get the prices back to the levels where the power of industrial nations will be significanly diminished and they will be able to once again bask in the largess of that which conicidence and nature has blessed them.  No longer satisfied to simply be rich by sucking from nature and without creating anything of value, these tyrants,despots, madmen and power hungry former  KGB types find the rate at which they are amassing their wealth has fallen to from grotesque to merely obscene and they aren’t going to take it lying down.

The 13-nation global oil cartel — which includes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran and Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela — will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna Friday to discuss the steep and rapid decline in oil prices.
“The era of cheap oil is finished,” Iran’s Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari boasted on Tuesday.  When asked what price Iran would want for its oil, Nozari declared, “The more the better.”

“A few member nations have voiced their intentions of pushing for a cut in production, including Qatar, Iran, as well as OPEC’s president Chekib Khelil, who said that output could be slashed by as much as 2 million barrels a day,” analysts for Raymond James & Associates told MarketWatch.com.

This is war, make no mistake about it and Iraq, with massive oil reserves will no doubt play an imporant role in this war.  What side they will come down on is anyones guess but being their liberators, we stand a better than even chance they won’t be wholly against Western society.

To win this war we must drive oil prices down, way down.  We must cripple Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Russia before they cripple us.  With cheap oil, the people of Iran can overthrow Ahmadinejad.  Without his petro dollars, Chavez will be an impotent dictator and will soon be replaced by someone who can inspire the Venezuelan people to begin to build a country supported by the labors of its people.

Without massive oil revenues Russia will once again be forced to confront their own corruption and decay and necessity will allow a new government to blossom, one more responsive to the talents and dreams of the Russian people.

I Need You!

To win this war, America must continue and accelerate our drive to develop petroleum free transportation.  Between compressed natural gas, hybrid and plug in technologies and fuel cells we can completely transform the transportation industry and reduce our need for oil to the point where we will be able to start exporting both oil and the technology to free European and Asian countries from their dependence on oil as well.

In the interim, I do see opportunity for good fortune.  A trait among OPEC and other oil rich countries is that they are very self serving.  OPEC has stuck together just fine in good times because there was no need for anyone to break rank.  Now, with some petro budgets being stretched thanks to a human failing I call the “arrogance of wealth,” you can expect to see one or more of the OPEC countries agreeing but not living up to pledges to cut production.  Nothing like the need for a little extra cash to cause a price fixing cartel to crumble.  There are no friends among OPEC nations, just willing co-conspirators.  Watching Russia continue to pump oil and others while they are supposed to be honoring a pledge to reduce production will display to the world just how little character these pimps of mother earth have.

Look for speculators to take the price of oil back up a bit following the OPEC meeting if production limits are placed but don’t look for it to hold.

For now we Americans need to maintain our focus and our resolve.  Gasoline under $3 a gallon is no excuse to relax the imperative we felt when it was pushing toward $5.  We’ve got the little bastards more than scared and even on the run.  Think of this as the surge and push onward with “all of the above.”  We can win this war, we will win this war, we must win this war.

While Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama continues to loudly beat the alternative energy drum, which we appreciate and acknowledge, by staunchly opposing nuclear energy and resisting discussions regarding expanded offshore drilling, his judgment is, once again, is proving to be as flawed as it is shallow.  Both nuclear and offshore drilling are essential components in America’s quest for oil independence and clean energy.

While it’s true that America needs to focus on advancing all the alternative energies as rapidly as possible, be it solar, wind, wave or geothermal, it’s equally true that advancing these technologies alone will not be sufficient to replace even natural gas on America’s electrical grid (so it can be used as an alternative for cars, trucks and buses) for many years to come. Surprisingly, the weak link isn’t even the technologies. It’s something far less glamorous, far less politically appealing and far more daunting. It’s America’s antiquated power grid itself that’s the problem.

As solar and wind energy technologies move closer and closer to achieving grid parity (the point where it costs the same to make electricity from a given technology as it does to make it from a coal fired plant) problems are already beginning to crop up as new wind farms begin to tax the grid to the point where it can no longer accommodate the electrical traffic being put into the system.  This forces these producers to shut down operations when the grid becomes too congested. Simply put, since solar and wind generators, and even geothermal plants are usually located in sparsely populated areas, the infrastructure necessary to get the electricity from the source to the high population areas of demand,  is either insufficient or non-existent.

America needs an energy super-highway, an upgraded infrastructure that will be able to transport this alternatively generated electricity efficiently from the source, be it wind, solar or geothermal. Without it all the windmills and solar arrays will be useless.

For example, Maple Ridge Wind farm invested $320 million building approximately 200 wind turbines in upstate New York. Today, at times, regional electric lines have been so congested that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down even with a brisk wind blowing.

Gabriel Alonso, chief development officer of Horizon Wind Energy, the company that operates Maple Ridge, comments that, by comparison,  in parts of Wyoming, a turbine could make 50 percent more electricity than the identical model built in New York or Texas. “The windiest sites have not been built, because there is no way to move that electricity from there to the load centers,” he said.

It will cost about $60 billion to build this energy superhighway but the technology already exists. In fact American Electric Power already operates 2,100 miles of this type of power lines. The problem with making this a reality is that this essential infrastructure is that it involves interstate cooperation as the line is built through state after state.  States are loathe to cooperate with each other not because of what it might do for them but what small advantage they might lose in the battle for cheap power and profits.
America must build this energy superhighway and they have to get started now if we are ever going to become energy independent.  This is going to take leadership and someone willing to make enemies in order to serve America’s future. Whose up to the task?  That remains to be seen but you better make sure the person you vote for will make it happen.

In the interim, America needs to expand its commitment to nuclear power and to expanding our domestic oil production until we can get this basic problem of infrastructure resolved.  Nuclear power can be built near the existing energy backbone feeding major metropolitan centers and won’t require this new energy superhighway.

We need to put aside all our differences and work together to get this energy superhighway built so that America can properly utilize the rapidly advancing alternative energy technologies. You’ve taken the time to learn about alternative energies, now spend a little time getting involved with the very center of this technology, the energy superhighway.  Just Google “energy superhighway” to get started.

Prototype Saudi Car - The Dromodary XG900

Recent reports that Saudi Arabia is actively considering ways to diversify their economy to be less dependent on oil for revenues suggests that the leader of the OPEC cartel have realized that the civilized world has tired of being dependent on these oppressive, uncaring tyrants and basically valueless residents of the planet and have redoubled their commitment to oil independence with near vigilante enthusiasm.

Getting the industrialized countries of the world to actually focus on making the fundamental changes necessary to move from petro-dependent energy to alternative energies has not been without its cost.  By embracing our oil addicted status quo for the past 20 years, America and, to a lesser degree, Europe have inadvertently funded middle eastern countries that in turn have spawned, then funded global Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism.

By ignoring the warnings of an impending oil crisis and not responding sooner, we also managed to fund the rebuilding of the Russian military to the point where they have once again rattled their swords and ventured forth as the imperialists they have always been at heart.

Thankfully, the transformation is finally upon us. The signs of this change in attitude are becoming more commonplace and highlight that the world’s transition to alternative energy  has shifted from being an unwelcomed “have to” to a genuine “want to” and a “must”.

The evidence is everywhere. American industry has historically dragged its feet in implementing mandated changes that are not supported by a bottom line payoff.  In previous years, the EPA has had to drag corporations screaming and kicking into environmental compliance. By contrast, not only are corporations implementing alternative energy solutions toward powering their facilities through their own initiative, utilities throughout America have tossed aside their government mandated timetables for alternative energy conversion and implemented accelerated programs which will bring them into compliance with new standards well in advance of the deadlines.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company, (NYSE: PCN) is a company that has come under criticism as recently as 2007 for only producing 12% of its electricity from renewable sources.  This is despite producing 24% of its power from nuclear plants and another 20% from hydroelectric generation.  California has placed a mandate on electric utilities that they have contracts in place to derive 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010. As recently as the first of the year, opinion was still split whether the company could meet these most challenging goals.

But times have changed. PG&E became more determined than ever to not only meet but to surpass the mandate.  Their outreach program combined with the alternative energies’ renewed efforts to bring their technologies forward has had a significant impact on PG&E’s progress.

OptiSolar Photovoltaic Panels

Last week  PG&E announced that it had contracted with OptiSolar and SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SWPR) to buy a total of 800MW of power from huge solar facilities slated to begin delivering power in 2010 and at full power by 2012.  This announcement brings the total renewable electricity PG&E has contracted to receive to 3600MW.  This brings their total commitment to renewable resources to 24% of their projected energy sales. Rather than falling short as predicted, PG&E has already met their mandated requirements more than a year ahead of schedule.

I spoke with Jennifer Zerwer environmental news representative for PG&E.  She told me that PG&E has been very aggressive in searching out renewable resources and it was this commitment to renewable energies coupled with significant advances in the various technologies that have allowed them to ink this many deals this quickly.

There is, however, one outstanding caveat which could upend this entire process.  That would be Congress’ failure to renew the incentive tax credits for renewable energy. In PGE’s recent press release announcing the solar deal that caught the attention of the nation by virtue of its size relative to all previous developments, the most important sentence in the entire agreement was “Both projects are contingent upon the extension of the federal investment tax credit for renewable energy and processes to expedite transmission needs.”

America needs to be off the oil nipple and the American public wants to buy petro-free cars and trucks.  At the same time, its evident that America’s utilities want to buy renewable energy.  Still, as rapidly as these technologies are developing, many emerging companies could be irreparably damaged if Congress doesn’t renew the investment tax credits which help fuel development and will allow these technologies to gain economic parity in time to save our country.

This brings us to the one area in the United States where a sense of urgency regarding oil independence isn’t being demonstrated.  The halls of Congress is where we see political posturing rating a higher priority than either the price at the pump or our national security.  The Democrats in Congress adjourned on August 1st over Republican objections without extending the investment tax credits or approving offshore oil drilling.

Considering that the investment tax credits represent only $18 billion in lost tax revenues, it’s criminal to tie this bill to any clause that will hamper its passing in exchange for political gain.  For example, attaching a windfall tax on oil companies will assure Republican opposition and allow one to reap political hay in the process but is totally counterproductive to America’s best interests; the loser here is America and the American people.  Congress wastes more than that annually on pork barrel projects and earmarks to fund various meaningless programs like studying the sexual habits of a South African ground squirrels.

American’s must make it a national priority to advance alternative energy technologies as if our very lives depend upon it, because they do.  At the same time we must aggressively push to produce more oil from every and any source available not only to bridge the gap of America’s conversion to a petro-free or petro-lite life, but to help drive down the price of oil and weaken our enemies in the process.  America must be fully independent of foreign oil and the value of oil must be reduced to a pittance for America to be safe.

The shift is underway, it’s being read in the news on a daily basis now and it’s being lived in each of our lives as we change our driving habits and our taste in cars. We mustn’t let up, this crisis extends beyond the cost of gas at the pump and of our electric bills, this is about protecting the American way of life from petro-rich countries that wish us ill.

If asked what you can do, we have a very practical and simple answer. Invest in the alternative energy companies of your choice based upon your tolerance for risk and contact your Congress person and let them know you demand they put aside political posturing and do their job of defending our country and supporting our independence from foreign oil.  Tell them to get back to work and to start supporting our transition to alternative energies by extending the tax investments credits now and by approving the offshore drilling package currently being held hostage by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democrats.

Russia’s attack on Georgia has highlighted, more than any other recent event, that oil independence is critical to America’s national security.  If ever there was a reason for Americans to support alternative energy and to add or increase the number of alternative energy stocks in their portfolio, this would be it.

Russian Tanks Invade Georgia

While America has been focused on the middle east and OPEC as the primary beneficiary of escalating oil prices, for the past several years, Russia has been quietly ramping up oil production as well. Recent events make it clear where Russia’s new found wealth has been invested.  They’ve been investing in a significant build up of their military allowing it once again to flex its totalitarian and imperialistic muscle.

Russia has become the world’s second largest oil exporter, taking only a back seat to Saudi Arabia. In fact, sometimes Russia actually produces more oil than Saudi Arabia. Additionally, they possess the world’s largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. In addition to their oil exports, Russia is also the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, yet only the third largest energy consumer. To say that Russia is a resource rich country would be an understatement.

Russian Oil Pipeline Under Construction

As the world’s largest consumer and importer of petroleum, we are contributing to American vulnerability by driving oil prices to record levels thereby enriching oil exporting nations, countries that are, for the most part, potential enemies, sponsors of terrorism and real threats to freedom loving countries in Eastern Europe.  At the same time, we are crippling our own economy by sending $700 billion a year out of our economy and into the economy of countries who are sponsors of terrorism and, but for the fact they control the source of our energy addiction, our enemies.  Funding and enriching those who would choose to kill you or conquer you has never been a sound strategy and its one that American cannot afford to continue.

The price of gasoline at the pump may be unpleasant and make life a little… or even a lot harder but the price of gas is but a symptom of the situation that threatens American national security.  Further exacerbating the situation is the apparent fact that the world has little stomach for a military engagement with Russia, should it continue its imperialistic outreach.  There are only two possible solutions, prepare to kill Russia or kill the price of oil thereby reducing Russia’s newfound ability to pursue its desires for conquest.  We support the idea of killing the price of oil and doing it now.  It’s achievable and within our grasp and won’t upset the antiwar activists in the process.

What’s abundantly clear is that this is not an issue that should be used to gain political ground; America needs everyone on the same page of the “Protect America” play book.  We need to drill everywhere and anywhere we can to find as much oil, as possible as quickly as possible while aggressively supporting the rapid development and deployment of all alternative energies.

Russian Tanks Invade Prague 1968

A few thousand dead birds or inconvenienced caribou don’t rank very highly compared to a free America.  Nor does the view from an ocean front balcony matter in the least compared to the prospects of fighting and dying to defend our country.  Allowed to continue $100 + a barrel oil will dramatically shift the balance of power in the world in ways that could cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of American lives. Remember,  418,000 Americans were killed in WW II.  This pales compared to the 50 - 70 million total citizens of earth that perished in that conflict. Consider, a war with Russia would make the war in Iraq look like a flag football game by comparison.

It’s time for America to rally around the cause of American oil independence.  This means that the Democrats have to stop the road blocks to offshore drilling and Congress needs to renew the alternative energy tax credits without playing games. The alternative is simply unacceptable.  If we don’t declare war now on our country’s dependence on foreign oil, we may soon be losing our precious children on European soil or defending America’s shores. So will someone tell Nancy Pelosi that, while she’s busy defending the planet and selling her book, she ought to consider defending America as well.

Nissan Motor Company (Nasdaq: NSANY) recently previewed its latest all-electric plug-in car, an electrified version of the “Cube”, a popular model that Nissan sells in Japan, modified to carry three lithium ion batteries under the floor and an 80kW motor and inverter.  The news of this event was carried widely by many news sources but universally, the stories all focused on Nissan and the car it was unveiling and largely relegated the real news to a paragraph.   Still, we were duly impressed by the real news and how it will effect alternative energy stocks in general and lithium-ion stocks specifically.  The real news, mentioned in the same articles, is about an advancement by Nissan in their battery technology.

Nissan's "Cube" Electric Vehicle

We are convinced, however, this is actually the meat of the story so we will to cover it here. The latest version of Nissan’s plug-in electric car features a lithium-ion battery, manufactured by Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (AESC), with twice the capacity of Nissan’s previous battery yet it only occupies 75% of the space.

In an industry that is on the verge of transitioning from petroleum to electric or hybrid power, and where the battery is currently the weakest link, this is incredible news.  In the recent CNBC-TV show “Saving GM,” engineers acknowledged that they were ready with their new plug-in Chevy Volt except for the battery yet had confidence that technology would advance sufficiently in the next year and a half to put the Volt in showrooms across America on time.

Batteries used in Nissan prototypes between around 1995 and 2002 were cylindrical, but that meant the entire cell would sometimes need to be redesigned if engineers needed to make the batteries just a few millimeters thinner.  In order to accelerate the progress, in April 2007 Nissan announced that they were joining forces with NEC and their affiliated company, NEC Tokin and forming a joint venture company for the specific purpose of advancing the battery-side technology for their future plug-in cars.

AESC Lithium-ion Battery

The joint venture dubbed  “Automotive Energy Supply Corp.” launched operations in May 2008 with a commitment from Nissan of $110.8 million over the next three years.  The result, today’s next generation lithium ion battery, is the first major advancement produced by AESC but clearly reminds the world that this technology is still at the stage where very significant progress can be made in a very short period of time.

Like many technologies, early advancements can be grand in scale while later refinements tend to add less to performance.  At some point in the future, it may be that gaining another 5% capacity while maintaining the size will be considered significant but if AESC can double capacity and, at the same time shrink the size of a battery by 25%, then this tells us that the technology has a long way to go and suggests great promise for the future of the industry.

An additional advantage of the new generation battery is that the group is experimenting with laminated cells that are stacked on top of each other inside batteries. If the dimensions of the battery need to be changed its easy to add or remove a few of the cells, which are just a few millimeters thick. The laminated batteries also run cooler so they are much less likely to overheat.

Apparently, reports that GM engineers expressed confidence that the lithium-ion battery technology would catch up with the rest of their development in time for a model year 2010 introduction of the Volt are greatly clarified given this latest announcement.

PSI - The New Alternative Energy

So, regardless of how exciting it was to see Nissan officially coming to the party with the preview of their latest EV, for us, the true excitement lies in the sub-plot of how lithium-ion technology now seems to be on the fast track with Nissan and AESC taking the stage as perhaps the front runners in advancing this technology to the point where, within the next few years, standard sized vehicles like a Toyota Camry or a Ford Fusion can drive 150 miles on a single charge at freeway speeds.  If the Chinese and Arabs haven’t already purchased controlling interest in America by that time, we should be in pretty good stead.  In the interim, I suggest we all check the inflation of our tires.

A Typical Geothermal Power Plant

The Bureau of Land Management held its annual auction of geothermal land leases in Nevada yesterday auctioning off a total of 100,000 acres comprised of various sized parcels scattered throughout rural areas in eight counties.  The 35 parcels went for a combined total of $28 million or an average of $380 an acre, surpassing the 2007 average of $91 an increase of more than 400%.

Nothing works as a better indicator of when a technology catches hold then when the finite resources available to produce it skyrocket in value. One of the big winners yesterday was Ram Power, Inc, a private corporation located in El Centro, California.  According to reports, the company won more than a third of the available leases spending a reported $10 million.

A little research on Ram Power revealed a form Reg D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 30, 2008.  We contacted Ram Power to congratulate them on their success at the auction and to discover if the company had plans, either immediate or long range to enter the public market with their stock.

We them at their El Centro, California headquarters and learned that Ram Power is, in fact a new company. Kristi, an Administrative Assistant with Ram-Power informed us that they were still getting things set up in their new offices. We wanted to know if Ram-Power had plans to go public as often times a Reg D private placement is a precursor to an IPO. Although we were promised a response, we have not received one as of yet but will let you know if we can look forward to having their stock added to our list of publicly traded geothermal energy companies.

For a new kid on the block, Ram Power sure pushed its weight around securing around 35% or the total dollar value geothermal leases this year.  When asked for a comment on Ram Power’s new acquisitions,  Stuart Johnson, a spokesperson for the company remarked “Some of the blocks went for millions of dollars today and this gives us the rights to spend more millions of dollars proving that there is a resource.”  Johnson has been previously listed as a spokesperson for Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and with Caithness Energy LLC.  Ram Power’s website is located at http://www.ram-power.com but is still in the “under construction” phase.  Alt-EnergyStocks.com wants to be the first to welcome Ram Power, Inc. to the battle against OPEC oppression and for clean air.

Geothermal Plant

The significant increase in value of geothermal leases along with the evidence that the number of players in this specialized field is increasing with some gusto further confirms America’s renewed commitment to energy independence.  In America, Nevada represents the mother load for geothermal resources and with enough energy stored beneath our land to power this country well beyond Armageddon, it’s encouraging to see we’re finally going to tap this clean renewable and highly reliable resource at a pace that befits its desirability.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid

While Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and with the tacit approval of Barack Obama, are blocking attempts to bring an energy bill to a vote that would allow US companies to drill on the outer continental shelf, where China and others are already beginning to tap the vast reserves available to us, the Republicans are likewise blocking Senate Bill S.3335 which would extend up to $20 Billion in renewable energy tax credits, facilitating investment in  wind and solar power, clean coal, plug-in electric vehicles and a variety of others.

Although there may be legitimate objections to some of the taxes the Democrats are proposing to offset the cost of these credits, the real reason this legislation is being blocked is to try to force the Democrats to allow the energy bill currently being quashed by the Dems to a vote.

John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas confirmed this in a not-so-subtle statement when he said his party sees a “need to dispose of the pending energy bill to help bring down the price of gas at the pump before turning to other matters.”

Considering that Congress just fast-tracked a bill that will provide $3.9 Billion in relief to 400,000 of the stupidest homeowners in America; folks who ignored common sense and either refinanced at impossible rates knowing there was a day of reckoning coming so they could buy more stuff or bought far more home than they knew they could afford hoping for the greater fool theory to hold true, while simultaneously trying to save the collective asses of a bunch of low-life profiteers who cooked up the sub-prime mortgage scheme to line their pockets at the expense of millions of ignorant and greedy consumers, I would be even more hard pressed to believe that concern about the offsets to these tax credits is really the issue here.
The Democrat’s argument about being plenty of land available to drill on already is as ignorant and short sighted as the Republican’s argument about not liking the tax offsets.

A simple way to clarify the Dem’s inability to understand the concept regarding the millions of acres they claim the US oil companies should be focusing on instead of the outer continental shelf would be to tell them to imagine they were at a meeting with former President Clinton. After the meeting, President Clinton suggested the two of you head downtown to pick up some chicks for a little casual sex.  You suggest that there are about a half dozen night clubs within walking distance that the two of you could explore to which he replies, “I explored all those just before the meeting and the places are dry, nothing worth considering there, trust me, I really gave them a hard look… but there is a spot downtown that I know has a lot of real hotties… that’s where we need to go to get lucky.”  Well, it’s the same with the oil companies, except they’re not trying to … well you get the idea.

There is a lot at stake with S.3335. The entire alternative energy industry could be irreparably harmed if the investment tax credits are not extended.  There will be huge losses of investment capital already at risk in these technologies along with cutting off the flow of badly needed investments to facilitate America’s transition from an oil dependent society to a fully self reliant country that has mastered the use of alternative energies.

Greg Wetstone of the American Wind Energy Association said Tuesday that his industry alone risks losing $11 billion in investment and 75,000 jobs if the tax credit expires next year.

Last month more than 300 high-tech and manufacturing companies warned Congress that failure to act quickly “will bring investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to a standstill.”

A Less Dangerous Game of Chicken

This is a very deadly game of “chicken” the politicians are playing and the stakes are far to high.  We are dealing not just with matters of ecology here. Whether you believe in global warming or not is irrelevant at this point when it comes to these bills.  This is a matter of National Security pure and simple and that is something that should not be trifled with. America is currently sending $700 billion, primarily to the middle east, every year and we’re borrowing the money from China to do it. We are indirectly funding terrorists while bankrupting America at the same time.

It is unconscionable for Pelosi, Reid and Obama to stand in the way of America increasing its productivity by joining China off America’s shores and its equally unconscionable for the Republicans to hold alternative energy investment tax credits hostage to force the Democrats into capitulating and allowing the offshore bill to come to a vote.

We don’t need one bill or the other, we need both passed and we need them passed now.  America needs more oil now and we need to become oil independent as quickly as possible.  These two bills, combined, facilitate that end.  This would be a great time to call your Congressman and demand they represent Americans for a change.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), with tacit approval of Barack Obama are continuing to quash attempts by Republicans to bring legislation to a vote that would allow the US to join China off our shores by opening the Outer Continental Shelf to exploration by US companies. This action virtually assures higher oil prices and continued painful gasoline prices for the foreseeable future until alternative energy technologies are able to become fully integrated into the automotive scene and begin reducing America’s dependence on oil.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid

The move, if successful, will assure that the US will continue to send Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia $700 million a year that could just as easily be spent here, within our borders, until we complete the switch to alternative energy vehicles.

Recent polls indicate that about 75% of the American public wants the Democratic supported ban on offshore drilling lifted but the Democrats, through their spokesperson, Nancy Pelosi have made their position clear, that “saving the planet” is far more important an agenda than working to lower gasoline prices and, if they need to enforce their agenda at the expense of the American public, well so be it.

The move by both Pelosi and Reid, who likewise is blocking attempts to bring offshore drilling to a vote in the Senate, has the tacit approval of Senator Barack Obama, the self proclaimed “symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions” and presumptuous heir to the Clinton throne, who continues to try to convince American’s that the solution to high oil prices is to tax oil companies while restricting oil speculation in American oil (despite unlimited futures market trading on the other 92% of the world’s oil production).

Pelosi also made it clear that it is she, and not the electorate, who wield the power in America when she said, “When you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.” With 75% of Americans disagreeing with her, she obviously is adding the American people under her designation of “anyone”.

Additionally, some pundits are suggesting that another reason for Pelosi and Reid blocking the certain approval of renewed offshore exploration is that this is a political strategy to avoid having Obama either skip the vote or, worse yet, vote against the measure, thereby jeopardizing his electability. Obama has previously endorsed higher gasoline prices indicating in his campaign that he is simply a little disappointed they came so quickly.

Foreign Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

Needless to say, Alt-EnergyStocks.com supports the rapid deployment of alternative energies, particularly in the area of transportation, the single biggest use of petroleum, and we recognize that it’s essential that the government provide reasonable incentives to accomplish this end. However, it is unreasonable in the highest order to expect that the US fund terrorist activities and wreak havoc on the economy by spreading $7 to $10 Trillion around the Middle East while expecting Americans to endure ever increasing gas prices for the next 10 years while we complete the difficult transition. It goes from unreasonable when one considers that we will be watching China and other foreign countries aggressively drill and drain the rich reserves off the coast of America while we are prohibited from joining them.

The oil crisis is a simple problem of supply and demand and the solution is equally as simplistic, increase supply while reducing and eventually eliminating demand. We have predicted that oil will be $20 a barrel by 2020 and we made that prediction based primarily on our ability to sufficiently reduce demand through alternative energy innovations but aided by increased production. America will increase production, it’s what the people want and what the country needs. We can eliminate our oil dependence without drilling another well but the cost to the economy would be disastrous and no American deserves to suffer that much… with the possible exception of Madam Polosi and Messrs Reid and Obama.

Alternative energy proponents and the automotive world focused in on plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars in San Jose, Ca this week as Plug-In 2008, brought Detroit automakers together with utilities, component manufacturers and eco-tech entrepreneurs from around the world who are working on making plug-in electric cars a practical and commercial reality in the near, rather than distant future.

Jon Lauckner, head of global vehicle development for General Motors, set the tone for the conference during the opening of the Plug-In 2008 conference saying, “We can no longer rely on oil to provide the bulk of our transportation fuel. It’s just that simple and that obvious. We believe the ultimate solution involves the electrification of the automobile as soon as possible. The discussion has shifted from if this happens to when this happens.”

There remains little doubt that the era of plug-in electric automobiles is upon us. Skyrocketing gas prices have finally forced the American public into a long overdue shift in their relationship with their cars and trucks. They are primed and ready to say goodbye to their internal combustion relics and to embrace a world where they are whisked to their destination silently on power supplied primarily by a 110 volt electrical outlet in their garage. The good news is this shift has occurred at a time when advances in technology make it possible for the average consumer to actually make the shift to a hybrid vehicle.

Toyota Prius Plug-In

For the first time since Toyota introduced the Prius some 10 years ago, hybrid demand far exceeds supply. Dealers report wait lists of 4 and 5 months as automakers struggle to find ways to meet demand. This is not a reflection of the auto industry’s willingness to build hybrids. Rather, it’s a reflection of bottlenecks in the various supply chains responsible for providing the automakers with batteries and other essential components. The shift to electric vehicles is well underway and now it’s industry’s turn to try to catch up to consumer demand. They will and we predict they will do it well in advance of all but the most optimistic pundits.

As if to punctuate the inevitability of the plug in vehicle, internet giant Google used Plug-In 2008 as an opportunity to announce the first of their investments, $2.75 million in furthering the technology. Last June Google.org launched RechargeIT, an initiative to accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. At the time Google requested investment proposals (RFP) from teams working on technologies relevant to this goal. At the conference, Google announced RechargeIT investments in two promising companies tackling the challenge of vehicle electrification.

Aptera All Electric Vehicle

Aptera Motors of Carlsbad, California is building an ultra-high efficiency vehicle based on improved aerodynamics and composite materials. Aptera’s first prototype achieved over 230 miles per gallon during testing, and they are developing an all-electric as well as a plug-in hybrid vehicle based on this design.

ActaCell is an Austin-based company working to commercialize lithium-ion battery technology developed at the University of Texas at Austin. ActaCell’s technology offers the promise of improved battery cycle life and lower costs, while maintaining a focus on battery safety, all of which are important factors in the widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles.

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Google has been living their commitment to plug-in technology by fielding a fleet of hybrids vehicles, withplug in conversions for use by their employees. In actual driving, over a 7 week period, they averaged 49.1 mpg for their Ford Escapes and a whopping 93.5 mpg with their Toyota Prius plug-ins. You can read on Google’s commitment to advancing plug in technologies by visiting RechargeIt.com

As always, there will be winners and losers in the battle for dominance in the plug-in hybrid markets. There is no doubt that Toyota has a considerable edge on the rest of the field thanks to their early commitment to the commercialization of hybrid vehicles, but the design of the Prius is definitely one for the ecological purists. Of all the others entering the field, we still think GM is showing the greatest initiative and is headed most strongly in the right direction with their Chevy Volt. Rather than opting for smaller, more economical cars combined with less efficient hybrids that combine battery and conventional motive power, like Ford appears to be doing, the Volt is a pure electric hybrid with only a small engine designed to recharge the batteries rather than supply power to the wheels.

2007 Chevy Volt

This advanced technology combined with aggressive styling that should appeal to a much wider cross section of the buying public and will put GM in good stead as it launches itself headlong into the market against the formidable Toyota.

Studies have shown that the majority of new hybrid buyers are doing so to gain better efficiency as well as to feel good about doing their part to help America rid itself of its dependence on foreign oil. In general they’re disinclined to compute a return on the additional costs of the hybrid over conventional cars. They just want to save money while doing their part and, for the most part, unlike the majority of hybrid buyers in the past, they don’t necessarily want to be viewed as a committed ecologist who gladly forgoes style to identify themselves thusly. In fact, environmental concerns are far less a motivation than economy and national security when it comes to their decision to buy a hybrid vehicle.

Fisker Karma

As such, one thing remains as true as it ever was. If automakers want to sell plug-in electric cars, they better make them good looking as well as functional. It probably doesn’t matter whether they make them “sexy”, or “bad” or “hot” looking but if they only make them practical and appealing to our common sense and direct our self image toward being a guy who is proud of putting the environment first, they are likely to be abandoned in favor of more appealing models.

Tesla Rodster

This explains our fascination with the Tesla Roadster and Flisker Karma, two all-electric, high-end sports cars that promise 200+ mile ranges, 125 mph top speeds and AC Cobra-like acceleration of 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds along price tags north of more and more people’s homes every day. These are the cars that will blaze the trail and make it almost as cool to own one of the various “civilian” offerings, the kind you can also drive with pride.

The future of plug-in cars is now and it’s a great time to be alive and to witness the metamorphosis of the auto industry. Still, I can’t help but wonder; can George Jetson be far behind?

There is a lot of conversation today about grid parity, that point at which the cost of a renewable energy source gains economic equality to the available non-renewable sources.

Naturally, this has a lot to do with location as costs of both renewable and non-renewable and renewable energies vary wildly from place to place. For example, solar energy has already reached grid parity in Hawaii for obvious reasons, there is an abundance of sun and a lack of locally available coal or natural gas. In other places like Pennsylvania and West Virginia where coal is more plentiful and the sun is not quite so bright, it will take a few more years for costs to reduce sufficiently to reach parity in those regions.

A major factor in reducing the cost per KWp (peak Kilowatt production) lies in the amount of production. More people making more solar panels means cheaper costs. One of the ways that this occurs is when a product becomes sufficiently affordable that is can go mainstream into the retail economy. As consumers begin to go shopping, production increases further, advancements are made to compete and, in the end prices really start to drop.

While economists and experts crunch the numbers to determine these very sophisticated algorithms, I have found there is a very accurate way to tell when an industry has turned the corner and enters the mainstream without graduating from Harvard Business School. I call it the “Home Depot Factor”. It works like this. When Home Depot starts offering and promoting a product in its stores to where an average Joe like me can walk in and buy it without going to a special high priced engineering business, then that product has gone mainstream and we can expect the prices to begin to decline even more dramatically as serious competition gears up.

The good news is that Home Depot is now selling the BP Solar panels and will gladly install them for you. Click here to see their consumer friendly presentation. Of course, just because Home Depot has gotten into the act, doesn’t mean that the competition wasn’t already heating up. SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR) is another company on the front lines of the consumer focused solar roofing industry and they’re bringing advances in both aesthetics and efficiencies to both existing homes as well as new construction.

When those ugly solar hot water units for swimming pools and homes were first introduced roof tops so many years ago, I can remember wondering when a person would be able to install a normal looking roof that was actually solar panels that would supply 100% of that home’s electrical needs. Well, I need wonder no longer. That day has arrived and, if you factor in mortgage financing, you can actually go cash flow positive with it, depending of course, on where you live. This means people can now retrofit solar panels to their existing homes and they will most likely save enough each month to make the payments on the home improvement loan.

I had an opportunity to speak with Helen Kendrick who heads up the communications department at SunPower. In addition to the above facts, Ms. Kendrick also pointed out that many forward thinking builders are including their solar tiles as part of new construction and doing so without a significant increase in the price compared to a traditional roofed home.

Obviously, in a tight real estate market in the middle of an oil crisis, this is probably more a capitalistic strategy than an altruistic one the significance of this is not the motive but the simple fact that it can be done. The fact that today, not tomorrow but today, cost competitive homes can be built with aesthetically pleasing solar tiles that will significantly reduce that home’s dependence on non-renewable resources to power it, is indeed crossing a threshold that will change the market entirely.

Helen was also quick to add that recent statistics are indicating that homes with solar arrays installed are moving twice as quickly and at better prices than homes without them. Yep, solar has finally gone mainstream and we all will be better off for it.

With solar technologies going mainstream, wind turbines can’t be far behind and the days when these two technologies will be the preferred, rather than the elite choice for consumers are fast approaching. In no time, people who don’t recycle their garbage, who shave with the water running and who would never consider composting will live in homes that generate 100% of their electrical needs from the sun and don’t infringe on the environment in any way. Hopefully they will be OK with that and won’t feel the need to start smoking again in protest.