QUICK NEWS, January 15: 2011 GLOBAL NEW ENERGY INVESTMENT; TEN NEW ENERGY STOCKS WORTH WATCHING; THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE PLUG

2011 GLOBAL NEW ENERGY INVESTMENT
Solar surge drives record clean energy investment in 2011; Total new investment in clean energy increased 5% to $260bn in 2011, despite the sluggish global economy and a painful squeeze on manufacturers
12 January 2012 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

"Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of $260bn in 2011, up 5% on 2010 and almost five times the total of $53.6bn in 2004…according to the latest authoritative data from analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Last year also saw the one trillionth dollar invested in clean energy globally since the company started compiling data in 2004.

"The record investment figures for 2011 are particularly striking because they were achieved during a turbulent year for the world economy in general and for the clean energy sector in particular. The industry has suffered severe pressure on the profit margins of manufacturers, a sharp fall in share prices, some notable bankruptcies, cuts in European government subsidy support, and a reduction in the availability of bank finance…"

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"The largest single type of investment was the asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects. This increased from a revised $138.3bn in 2010, to $145.6bn in 2011…The second-biggest category of investment last year was the finance of distributed renewable power technology, notably rooftop PV. This reached $73.8bn in 2011, up from $60.4bn in 2010…Several other categories of investment actually fell slightly during 2011. Corporate research and development in clean energy…and government research and development…Public markets fund-raising fell…

"Venture capital and private equity investment saw a modest increase of 4% in 2011 to $8.9bn…2011 was characterized by significant volatility in levels of activity, with big variations in the amount of investment in each quarter. The most buoyant period by far was the third quarter, when asset finance alone reached $47.8bn, helped by a rush of projects taking advantage of the US federal loan guarantee programme that expired at the end of September. In the following quarter, asset finance worldwide fell 28%...[largely on] the impact of the euro area sovereign debt crisis on bank lending to renewable energy projects…"


TEN NEW ENERGY STOCKS WORTH WATCHING
Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2012
Tom Konrad, January 2, 2012 (AltEnergyStocks)

"There is a silver lining to the horrible year clean energy stocks had in 2011: the opportunity to buy clean energy stocks (often considered a growth sector) at prices one would expect from value stocks…With that in mind, I now focus my annual list on the most economic clean energy sectors…[and] stocks I currently consider relatively good values…[N]ow is the best time to buy clean energy stocks since the start of 2009…

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"My energy efficiency picks are…1.Waterfurance Renewable Energy (WFIFF.PK $15.3455, WFI.TO)…2. Lime Energy (LIME, $3.18)…3. Honeywell (HON, $54.35)…4. Rockwool International (RKWBF.PK $82.29, ROCK-B.CO 473 DKK10)…"

"…[E]nvironmental services companies [are] a way to invest in biomass…5. Waste Management (WM, $32.71)…6. Veolia Environnement SA (VE, $11.05)……[In] Alternative Transport…biking, light rail, and buses top my list…7. Accell Group (ACCEL.AS, €14.15/$18.33)…8. New Flyer Industries (NFYEF.PK $5.6492, NFI.TO) …

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"…[In] Renewable Energy Developers…small renewable energy power producers are looking cheap…8. Finavera Wind Energy (FNVRF.PK, $0.409) is a wind project developer…9. Western Wind Energy Corp (WNDEF.PK, $1.96) …10. Alterra Power Corp. (MGMXF.PK $0.40, AXY.TO)…"


THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE PLUG
Today is really the time of electric vehicles; Everybody is talking about electric car. LEAF has already sold over 20,000 electric vehicles with lithium ion batteries so, I think today is really the time of electric cars, and they will continue to grow.
January 16, 2012 (Revolucion Eolica con Vehiculos Elecvtricos)

[Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan, talking about the LEAF:] "…Nissan has always been a company of innovation… The Nissan LEAF has really rocked our industry. If I go back three or four years, everybody laughed when we talked about bringing a commercial electric car. Now, you look around the show and everybody is talking about electric cars…I think today is really the time of electric cars, and they will continue to grow."

[Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan, talking about the LEAF:] "Now, we should not view an electric car as “the” electric car. It’s an alternative powertrain. So in the same way as we talk about diesels, or gasoline cars, or hybrid cars, or plug-in hybrid cars, we have to talk about electric cars. So it follows that there normally should be more than one car that is electric in our range."

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[Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan, talking about the LEAF:] "…[T]he second car…is actually a van. It makes perfect sense if you think about it from a very low total-cost of ownership. That car, is maybe a little more expensive than a conventional van, to buy; the payback, considering government incentives, is less than three years for a normal operator. So, for business, which is very much focused on total cost of ownership, that is definitely a good alternative to consider. Then of course, the third car will be an Infiniti. And, the fourth car is a surprise."

[Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan, talking about the LEAF:] "…the Pathfinder…[will be] a trend-change in the market from let’s say crossover, more towards SUV-like, and clearly we are somewhere following that trend. But at the same time, we have been able to understand that trend and offer something that is competitive in every way, shape and form…[W]e have been able to reduce the weight of the vehicle and improve the fuel economy by about 25%. The car is bigger. Obviously from a ride-and-handling point of view…it [is] a much more engaging car…I think you are getting an awful lot of good value for money with that vehicle, when we get to announcing the price…I think we have the most competitive car in that particular set."