Comments on: Clean-Energy ETFs Volatile, but Hold Potential http://timplaehn.com/2008/03/28/clean-energy-etfs-volatile-but-hold-potential/ Earning Money thru Freelance, Trading, Investing and Building Online Businesses Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:46:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: AndyS http://timplaehn.com/2008/03/28/clean-energy-etfs-volatile-but-hold-potential/comment-page-1/#comment-5012 AndyS Mon, 12 May 2008 19:36:33 +0000 http://timplaehn.com/2008/03/28/clean-energy-etfs-volatile-but-hold-potential/#comment-5012 Great article - I was looing to invest in the renewable energy trend and these ETFS look like the way to go. Great article – I was looing to invest in the renewable energy trend and these ETFS look like the way to go.

]]> By: Steve Orr http://timplaehn.com/2008/03/28/clean-energy-etfs-volatile-but-hold-potential/comment-page-1/#comment-2474 Steve Orr Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:51:21 +0000 http://timplaehn.com/2008/03/28/clean-energy-etfs-volatile-but-hold-potential/#comment-2474 I think that as commodity prices demonstrate more volatility, as the developing world continues to grow (even if the rate of growth slows there will still be growth - over the long run) and most importantly as water shortages continue to occur there will be a growing need for alternative energy. I do not think that coal or nuclear is a viable as others might think for three reasons --> 1) both coal and nuclear require significant initial capital outlay - solar and wind energy offer incremental solutions that can be upscaled as finances and engineering requirements permit/require 2) neither wind nor solar require water for cooling - they can be located on the surfaces of farms or warehouses and let what goes on below them maintain productivity -- you can have a large farm beneath a wind farm and you can have a large factory or warehouse below a solar array and 3) the commodity markets for energy are volatile, unpredictable and in the long run are inflationary - anything to disconnect the economy from an inflationary force is very appealing. The "intermitency problem" whereby solar and wind generate electricity in a sporadic fashion is mostly an engineering problem. Creating large scale regional DC electric grids would enable sharing of electric resources across larger regions. Also battery technology and fuel cell technology continues to improve enabling individual homes and businesses to function for short intervals without grid connected electric power. As is historic for most widescale societal challenges there is a struggle between the established older technology and newer technology. Unfortunately the big electric companies do not welcome the prospect of an entreprenial distributed power generation technology-based solution(s)... Please see comments posted last year - I think these fundamentals still hold true today. http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.715973/browse_thread/thread/7440bbf1a66e3484 I think that as commodity prices demonstrate more volatility, as the developing world continues to grow (even if the rate of growth slows there will still be growth – over the long run) and most importantly as water shortages continue to occur there will be a growing need for alternative energy. I do not think that coal or nuclear is a viable as others might think for three reasons –> 1) both coal and nuclear require significant initial capital outlay – solar and wind energy offer incremental solutions that can be upscaled as finances and engineering requirements permit/require 2) neither wind nor solar require water for cooling – they can be located on the surfaces of farms or warehouses and let what goes on below them maintain productivity — you can have a large farm beneath a wind farm and you can have a large factory or warehouse below a solar array and 3) the commodity markets for energy are volatile, unpredictable and in the long run are inflationary – anything to disconnect the economy from an inflationary force is very appealing.

The “intermitency problem” whereby solar and wind generate electricity in a sporadic fashion is mostly an engineering problem. Creating large scale regional DC electric grids would enable sharing of electric resources across larger regions. Also battery technology and fuel cell technology continues to improve enabling individual homes and businesses to function for short intervals without grid connected electric power.

As is historic for most widescale societal challenges there is a struggle between the established older technology and newer technology. Unfortunately the big electric companies do not welcome the prospect of an entreprenial distributed power generation technology-based solution(s)…

Please see comments posted last year – I think these fundamentals still hold true today.

http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.715973/browse_thread/thread/7440bbf1a66e3484

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