It’s not just a question of renewable energy and nuclear – you need to factor energy efficiency in there too, as well as improving the grid.

And as the transformation occurs there will be plenty of opportunities to profit. SunPower (SPWR), the largest U.S. solar-panel maker, recently reported 2Q net profit of $28.6 million, or 34 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.3 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Definitely one to watch…

Looking forward, the U.S. and the West simply have to buckle down and decide that it’s time to transform the energy systems of the world. We have to move away from burning scarce, expensive and often dirty carbon to using something else.

But burning carbon (coal, oil and natural gas) is what provides 87% of the U.S.’s total energy supply. Nuclear, by the way, is another 10% of total energy. Renewable energy sources are less than 3% of total U.S. energy supplies (and about two-thirds of that is from forest companies burning wood chips to run the mills).

So any transformation from carbon to that elusive “something else” will take a long time and require immense restructuring of the current energy systems that are out there.

As the transformation occurs, there will be great opportunities. But there will be a lot of political and economic pain, as well.

To achieve stable and affordable energy supplies (and, certainly, to lower energy imports), we will need an entire range of options. It will take a portfolio of technologies. These include:

– Conservation and efficiency improvements, everywhere! This is more of a “cultural” than technical issue. I mean, we already know how to insulate houses, but we just don’t do it. And many cars already get 45 miles per gallon, but Americans haven’t been buying them in the past 20 years or so. People just have to believe that conserving energy is one of their highest priorities (as if gasoline at $4.25 per gallon is not doing that already).

– Extremely more efficient power generation and transmission. If we burn carbon, we have to get more energy-efficiency out of it. And the U.S. transmission grid is woefully inadequate. Really, transmission is a disaster waiting to happen. So in some respects, transmission is also an investment opportunity waiting to happen.

– Massive use of “high-value” energy efficiency, from load reduction to combined heat and power systems. For example, you won’t recognize your household electric meter in the future. It’ll be as annoying as your BlackBerry.

– Dramatically increase the diversity of the fuel mix. One example is flexible fuel mixes, moving from gasoline to methanol-ethanol-butanol. Then do what Toyota (NYSE:TM) is already pioneering and put solar panels on the roof of the car to augment the electric system. Your car of the future (if you have one — another story entirely) will have more chips in it than the space shuttle.

A lot of this is already happening, due to price and supply pressures, reliability issues, the rapid maturity of new technologies, new ideas for systems integration and government policies at all levels.

Unfortunately, our energy transformation is not happening fast enough or in a widespread enough manner. But the good news is that the foundation is there. As a nation, we need to “step on the gas,” if you’ll excuse me using such a primitive analogy.

Source: The Great U.S. Energy Transformation

So what can be done, asks Greg Gunner Guenthner. Are there ways to make it cleaner? Carbon capture technology is a possibility, but it’s years away from being usable.

Oil is another massive polluter, and gets more expensive by the day. Looks like the only option is to invest in sustainable energy – the sooner the better.

By a wide margin, the United States has the largest coal reserves on the planet. The coal supplies in the U.S. account for 95% of its fossil fuel reserves and a whopping 60% of the fuel reserves in the world, according to the American Coal Foundation.

Yes, coal prices have continues to rise across the globe. But of course, this pales in comparison to the continued run-up in petroleum, which has virtually paralyzed the wallets of many oil-reliant Americans.

The idea of a coal shortage is virtually unthinkable. We have roughly 275 billion tons of recoverable coal, enough for us to burn for the next two and a half centuries if we needed it. So while the next generation might not have the oil to run their cars and trucks, the lights at the house will stay on thanks to coal power.

If this were the end of the story, coal would be sitting pretty. But the black rock is under attack from governments, scientists and ordinary citizens throughout the world. And with no end in sight, our main source of electricity is in serious jeopardy.

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The Ugly Truth About Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The prolific use of coal as a power generating fuel is causing massive damage to the planet in the form of carbon dioxide emissions. This is not a political statement – it’s been proven over and over again by scientists and accepted by governments and the United Nations.

Today, oil we burn in our vehicles and use for power generation is the number one source of CO2 emissions. However, half of the excess CO2 civilization has contributed to the air is from coal. And as you are aware, oil use will most likely decrease from this point forward due to supply and pricing constraints.

It is clear that coal is the dirty, cheap energy culprit the world needs to fix. President Bush and both major-party candidates in the White House race have advocated the development and use of new coal technology that would reduce CO2 emissions. And politicians on both sides of the isle have supported efforts to develop clean coal technology.

Unfortunately, a viable solution is decades away.

Take carbon capture technology, for instance. Carbon capture techniques are designed to take the CO2 emissions from power plants and inject them into the rocks or other geological formations. This process would keep the harmful CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere.

The Clean Coal Boondoggle

While it looks good on paper, industry analysts believe this technology is at least 10 to 15 years away from commercial use. Others are questioning whether CCS will ever become viable. A New York Times article from earlier this year asks precisely that, describing the government yanking support from an Illinois site that was supposed to pioneer the technology.

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The article continues, citing utility projects in Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota and Washington State that have been canceled or postponed. The piece continued with even more evidence that questions the program’s viability:

Coal is abundant and cheap, assuring that it will continue to be used. But the failure to start building, testing, tweaking and perfecting carbon capture and storage means that developing the technology may come too late to make coal compatible with limiting global warming.

“It’s a total mess,” said Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

A total mess? This doesn’t sound promising at all…

All Coal Is Not Created Equal

Two important conclusions must be drawn from this evidence. First, we see no reduction in the volume of coal used to generate power in the foreseeable future. It is also clear that a truly viable CO2 reducing solution needs to present itself ASAP. Green laws sprouting up across the European Union and the United States will require a change.

Electricity demand in western states continues to rise. Power distributors are desperate to keep up with demand. Add to the mix strict environmental laws and you’re looking at a world of hurt for the Western United States.

Source: Coal Keeps the Lights on in America — Can We Make It Cleaner?

Mining: the latest “wisdom” from Wall Street is that commodities have or are in the process of peaking. Don’t believe it. The 95 percent increase in iron ore prices negotiated between China and Rio Tinto a couple of weeks ago shows how ridiculous that line of thinking is. (My favorite mining-related company: Bucyrus (BUCY)).                 

Energy: with energy prices this high, there has to be some good investments out there and there are, but it’s not in Big Oil. I like a medium sized oil company from South Africa called Sasol (SSL).

Fertilizers: This sector is a little more volatile than I would ideally like. And fertilizer companies have gone up a great deal already. Potash Corp. (POT) seems to be the favorite among analysts, but I like Terra Industries (TRA) better.

Oil support/transport: Some analysts like the pipelines. I like the rig companies better. Helmerich & Payne (HP) is an outstanding one.

Health care: Following the Boomer into their old age can’t be a bad strategy. Medical Properties (MPW) is a real interesting health care REIT with loads of upside.

Alt Energy: Solar rocks. Now that China has had their 50 percent correction, I’m liking Suntech Power (STP) all over again.

Precious metals. Gold and silver are going up, baby. The ETF GLD rises with the price of gold. That’s sounds good to me.

Everyone should have a recessionary handbook in their back pocket. This is mine.

Source:  The “Seven Up” Recessionary Handbook 

Google, Chevron and Goldman are all betting that this prediction is correct. This from Bloomberg:

Unlike photovoltaic solar panels that convert sunlight to electricity, solar thermal focuses sunrays with mirrors to heat oil in glass pipes to about 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 degrees Celsius). The oil turns water to steam, which spins an electric turbine. A solar thermal unit that begins operation in 2010 will produce power at 14.2 cents a kilowatt hour, almost triple the 4.8 cents for a plant using pulverized coal, the Energy Information Administration estimates.

Costs for solar thermal may fall as low as 3.5 cents a kilowatt hour by 2020, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Energy Department. Meanwhile, coal expenses may rise. Congress is considering limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The purchase of pollution permits may be required under a measure the Senate will begin debating next month.

Chevron, Goldman Sachs, FPL, PG&E and other companies have filed more than 50 applications with the Bureau of Land Management to lease government-owned desert property for solar power systems … Google’s philanthropic division put $10 million into eSolar, a start-up in Pasadena, California. Dan Reicher, a former Energy Department official who manages the unit’s climate and energy initiatives, said there will be more such investments.

The PowerShares Clean Energy ETF (PBW) has more than $1.5bn in assets and is one of the most popular ways to invest in solar, biomass, wind, and geothermal energy, says Brian Hunt in Daily Wealth.

“Common sense tells us when the holy trinity of fossil fuels – crude oil, coal, and natural gas – rise in price, companies that provide cleaner substitutes should also rise in price.

“PBW’s only been around for three years […] But with oil approaching $130 a barrel and clean energy stocks out of favor, expect a rally from the ‘treehugger-approved’ companies of the world.”

“Solar panels won’t be accepted en masse unless the economics of it makes sense,” says Charles Delvalle in Investor’s Daily Edge. “Sure, adoption is growing. But it won’t be mainstream until everyone can afford it. The same goes for wind power.

“With so many solutions not making any economic sense, why is adoption skyrocketing? You can thank the government and their incentives. States are ramping up incentives for clean energy production (like California’s $3.3 billion solar initiative). If it weren’t for government incentives adoption would drastically drop.

“When you combine these government incentives with the whole culture change that’s going on, you have a recipe for amazing growth.”