ECO-RICH GET RICHER IN NEW ENERGY

If part of the secret comes from following the money, then these are some of the guys to follow.

Eco-millionaires see boom times ahead
Chris Willis (w/Gerard Wynn), August 20, 2007 (Reuters via Yahoo News)

WHO
Four entrepreneurs: Bruce Khouri, co-founder, Solar Integrated Technologies; Pedro Moura Costa, co-founder, EcoSecurities; David Scaysbrook, founder, Novera Energy; Neil Eckert, ceo, Climate Exchange.

Pedro Moura Costa

WHAT
The 4 entrepreneurs discuss strategies for growing wealth with renewable energies and clean technologies in a carbon-constrained world facing climate change.

WHEN
These men are making big money now, even as changes in energy and markets play out.
Khouri founded his company in 2001. Moura Costa jumped into the emissions market after the 1997 Kyoto accords. Scaysbrook became wealthy when he sold wind energy and landfill gas investments in 1998. Eckert cashed in his shares of Brit Insurance in 2005 to get into the emissions markets.

WHERE
Solar Integrated Technologies is in Los Angeles. EcoSecurities is based in Oxford, England. Novera Energy is in London. The Climate Exchange is based in Chicago and trades in the European market as well.

WHY
- Khouri foresaw the value of flexible solar panels as roofing material. He predicts that all roofing material will be solar panels in 20 years and all building materials will be solar energy-producing in 50 years.
- Moura Costa was working as a forester when he foresaw the value of carbon credits in a Kyoto Protocols system. He predicts the emissions trading markets will expand because he sees climate change as serious and getting worse.
- Scaysbrook sees 3 factors driving the value of renewable energy: (1) energy security concerns, (2) fossil fuel costs, and (3) subsidies, tax incentives and emissions caps.
- Eckert sees the emissions markets as an opportunity to replace fossil fuel dependence by creating a financial alternative.

Neil Eckert

QUOTES
- Khouri: "It hasn't been easy but we transformed an old-world roofing material into a renewable energy technology. It's a miracle Solar Integrated is still here but a pioneer charging across the prairie is bound to get hit by a few arrows."
- Moura Costa: “It's become quite obvious we do something now or it will be an irreversible trend with catastrophic consequences. The only chance of it being a bubble is if we lack the political commitment to drive emission reductions worldwide…I think it's very unlikely political support will go away."
- Scaysbrook: "The scale of investment to date is nothing compared to what is coming…”
- Eckert: "I believe we have a chance to meet the stated mitigation targets much quicker than people think ... but it depends on whether people believe money can be made."