Commodity prices have been going through the roof for years, thanks to a scarcity of supplies and ever-surging global demand.

The British government gave a huge boost to wind energy stocks this week, opening bidding for offers to build up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines by 2020 — triple the amount previously planned.

The European Union has set a target date of 2020 for 20% of its energy to come from renewable sources. The British Wind Energy Association said Britain will contribute 15%, meaning up to 40% of the country’s power will come from wind energy by the target date.

“The richest investment opportunities can be found in the fast-emerging alternative energy sector,” says Mike Burnick in The Offshore A-Letter.

Solar stock Ersol rose to a new record after German engineering giant Bosch said it paid $157 a share, a premium of more than 60%, for a controlling stake in the company. This from The Guardian:

Shares in leading German solar stocks rose substantially on expectations that other big players, including oil groups, are on the prowl in a market that grew to €6.6bn last year and is forecast to top €18bn by 2020.

Sky-high crude oil prices are threatening global growth for the first time in decades, according to Thomson Reuters, and are “spurring a desperate surge in interest in energy alternatives and new technology to keep conventional oil flowing.”

“The richest investment opportunities can be found in the fast-emerging alternative energy sector,” says Mike Burnick in The Offshore A-Letter.

Companies specializing in centralized fossil fuel fired generation need to move towards energy efficiency and diversity of generation, Scottish and Southern Energy, Britain’s second largest energy supplier, said today.

“The days of meeting an unchecked demand for energy through monolithic carbon intensive power stations are coming to an end. Increasingly the emphasis will be on energy efficiency, renewables, cleaned up fossil fuel plant and micro generation,” the company said in a statement accompanying its full-year results, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

Recently, legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens made headlines with another big bet on energy…but it was No ordinary oil & gas investment.

A month ago, I wrote an article here in the A-Letter detailing the global food crisis. According to data from the World Bank, global food prices have soared 83% in the past three years alone.

Well, I guess it’s now “official.” Over the weekend, representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officially declared that we are in the middle of a global food crisis.

Soft commodities are now the best-performing sub-set of the commodity bull market. It’s easy to see why. The world’s supply is withering.