Wind-based electricity is still about twice the price of coal- and gas-generated electricity. The thing that’s keeping windmills in the ring is public subsidies like tax credits, as well as large-scale public policy support, like renewable portfolio standards, that requires utility companies to generate certain percentages of ‘green,’ carbon-free power.

While we’re at it, windmill systems are extremely capital-intensive. They require lots of upfront investment in land and leases, roads, grid access, concrete foundations, steel towers and complex turbines and blades. Then you need about three windmills, in different locales, just to assure you have 24-hour power generation — due to the fact that the wind does not always blow when and where you need it.

With the U.S. credit system still broken — and to all appearances, the economy going back into the ‘double dip’ of the Great Recession — things probably aren’t going to get much better for windmills in the next year. Maybe someday. Not now.

Source: Energy Investors Beware

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.

That’s where oilman T. Boone Pickens is putting his money – his company Mesa Power just placed an order for US$2 billion in wind turbines. And there’s much more profit potential in other parts of the alternative energy sector too – especially alternative fuel.

• The market for ALL alternative energy sources grew 40% last year alone to US$77.3 billion and will explode into a US$250 billion industry within 10 years.
• Bio-fuel grew to a US$25.4 billion market last with more than 15 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel produced globally – more than double the output of just four years ago.
• The worldwide Bio-fuel industry will continue to enjoy explosive growth for years to come – expanding into a US$81 billion business within the next 10-years!

But you don’t have to wait two decades or even two years to start making serious money from this energy-sector market shock…

Fossil fuels are dead – the future belongs to alternative energy. Vast fortunes will be made in the “great fuel revolution!”

Investing in established wind energy stocks stocks is a great way to profit, says Charles Delvalle in Investor’s Daily Edge:

It seems to me that investing in green stocks is a great thing to do. What you want to do is avoid the companies that have no profits… the ones that are using very experimental technologies that haven’t been proven yet. These companies may do well in the future, but you take a huge risk by putting your money on them now.

If you think investing in clean energy is a bad idea, just take a look at the Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy Fund (GEX) and you’ll see that the sector’s been clearly moving higher. And the PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio (PBD) has been doing the same.

Thomson Reuters reports that, according to the National Venture Capital Association, the alternative energy investments sector boasts the highest growth in venture capital investments in the last five years.

Big bucks are also flowing in from US pension funds into an array of alternative energy investments, stoking concerns of a possible bubble. Reuters says that the “exposure of pension funds and other institutional investors to alternative energy projects is small but growing with investments in geothermal to hydro, wind, solar, biomass, tidal energy and landfill gas.”

Charles Delvalle in Investor’s Daily Edge says it’s a great time for alternative energy investments…

The government recently incentivized production of ethanol, biofuel, and solar technology. If a Democrat gets into office, these incentives should grow. Congress even pushed up the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) guidelines for the first time since 1975. And the idea of carbon credits is beginning to gain traction in Congress.

So the government is helping fuel the creation of cleaner energy. Step one is complete.

What about step two?

If I talk to any of my friends and tell them I love the things oil does to the earth, they’ll slap me (yes, I know oil is bad for the earth). If I told them that I didn’t recycle, they’d yell at me (yes, I recycle). My friends are already convinced that the green movement is the way to go.

If you type in the word ‘green’ in Google, you’ll see thousands of new websites that all talk about how great it is to be green.

Look at corporate trends, and you see more commercials with companies talking about going green. Wal-Mart, IBM, Intel, Google, and even ExxonMobil is getting into the act. The idea of going green is spreading like wildfire. And it will only increase as gas prices move higher.

The green market is definitely seeing the second step. But how about the third?

Have you seen solar stocks lately? In the past two years, these companies have popped by 100% – 300%. And it seems like a new solar company pops up every other day touting a ‘breakthrough’ technology that allows amazing conversion of light to electricity. Many have no profits to speak of and don’t plan on entering production for years.

Ethanol stocks were moving higher for a while, but have gone down since the middle of last year (maybe investors are catching on to how ‘not green’ ethanol really is). Geothermal producers are shooting higher. And those who sell wind turbines are making great money on increasing orders.

By 2030, Morgan Stanley expects green sales across the globe to total over $1 trillion (that’s bigger than the Gross Domestic Product of 169 of the 181 member countries of the International Monetary Fund!).

Most people I speak to see green technology as the wave of the future. It’ll only be a matter of time until they think that investing in green companies is a no-brainer.

In the end, this whole green movement we see today could very well be the start of yet another massive bubble. And considering the riches that were made during the two previous bubbles, catching the green investment mania early on would be a great way to make a lot of coin in the next few years.

Jason Simpkins in Money Morning reckons one of the best alternative energy investments is in uranium and uranium mining stocks:

Uranium has become one of the most coveted and volatile commodities on the planet. Overall, uranium gained 28% in 2007, but that seemingly simple statistic masks a much-more-complex story.

At one point in June, uranium prices were up 84% for the year. But then a mass sell-off – accelerated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to auction off as much as 200 tons of uranium from its own inventory – drove prices from $138 a pound down to $75 a pound in just three months.

So far this year uranium has skidded even more, reaching its current trading price of about $65 a pound. Despite the dip, however, the underlying fundamentals remain strong, meaning it’s probably the perfect time to start stocking back up on the yellow cake providers.

In a recent research note, analysts with the RBC Capital Markets Group of the Royal Bank of Canada (RY) said that the current spot price of uranium has been “driven to excessively low levels due to intense selling pressure and lack of buying demand, coupled with the typical illiquidity of the spot market.”

The RBC analysts also said that “the long-term price, on the other hand, has not changed since May 2007 and we think this better reflects the market’s view of longer-term supply-demand fundamentals.”

So where should you look for profit opportunities? If you look at the charts, some uranium mining company stocks appear to move up and down in virtual lockstep with spot prices.
If you want a pure play on an increase in the price of uranium itself, Cameco Corp. (CCJ) is your best shot. It’s the largest producer of uranium in North America and – despite flooding at its Cigar Lake site last year – Cameco remains the world’s largest and most liquid uranium miner, making it vital to the global supply.

The company’s profit more than doubled in the first three months of 2008, surging 125% on its uranium and gold mining operations. RBC also likes Cameco’s potential.

Read more here for Jason’s tips on maximising profit from blue-chip uranium mining stocks.