Alternative Energy Stocks

If ‘food waste’ was a country it would be ranked as the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world behind only China and the United States.  To reach this conclusion the World Resources Institute used food waste data in 2011, and considered agriculture inputs, food processing, land use, deforestation, food waste disposal, and landfill impacts. The carbon footprint of wasted food is a big one with cereals contributing about 35% of the greenhouse gas emissions even though is only about 19% of food waste volume.  Meat on the other hand is a small part of the food waste problem as it...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA In September 2019, the California State Assembly sent out legislation that sets a 10% recycled plastic mandate by 2021 and increases the hurdle rate to 50% by 2030.  The law covers plastic bottles that are already covered under the state’s container redemption program.  Companies will need to use plastic bottles made from recycled plastic such that at least a minimum percentage of the plastic used meets the mandate. Environmentalists and even consumers might be celebrating the new law, but the plastic recycling industry could be less than jubilant.  The recycling news feed is peppered with headlines that reveal some fraying...

by Jim Lane “EPA Reneges on Trump’s Biofuels Deal”, said the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association in reacting to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s new plans for fulfilling federal renewable fuel requirements. EPA released a proposed supplemental rule for the Renewable Fuel Standard today, and the bioeconomy is up in arms, and the outrage is centered in farm country, once a Trump bastion of support. “IRFA members continue to stand by President Trump’s strong biofuels deal announced on Oct. 4, which was worked out with our elected champions and provided the necessary certainty that 15 billion gallons would mean 15 billion gallons, even after...

by Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA, Editor Past Endorsements AltEnergyStocks.com has endorsed a candidate in all the US Presidential races since 2008 (Obama, followed by Obama in 2012, Clinton in 2016, and a generic endorsement of congressional Democrats in 2018. Despite the long string of Democratic endorsements, AltEnergyStocks this site does not automatically endorse Democratic or liberal candidates.  We are issue driven, and all our endorsements to date have been purely based on the policy positions of the candidates. It is simply a sad fact about the Republican party that they have not fielded a conservative who actually cares about conservation of the environment...

Research firm Corporate Knights revealed that the pension fund would be $22 billion richer had it divested from fossil fuel stocks in 2008. That's almost $20,000 for of each of the pension fund’s 1.1 million members & retirees. A new in-depth analysis by the research firm Corporate Knights, shows that New York State pension fund would be $22 billion richer had it divested from fossil fuel stocks 10 years ago. That works out to almost $20,000 for of each of the pension fund’s 1.1 million members and retirees. To perform their analysis, Corporate Knights looked at the stock holdings of the pension fund in...

by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA So far, my worries about stock market valuation and political turmoil have not turned into the stock market downturn I've been warning readers to prepare for. In fact, September has been a particularly sunny month for both clean energy stocks and the stock market in general.My broad income stock benchmark SDY was up 3.9% and the energy income stock benchmark YLCO rose 2.7% for the month, more than reversing August's declines. My 10 Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio accelerated upward by 5.3%, as did my real-money managed strategy, the Green Global Equity Income Portfolio(GGEIP), which...

As quickly as the ethanol producer jumped into the cattle business, Green Plains (GPRE:  Nasdaq) has sold off half of its Green Plains Cattle Company to a group of investment funds for $77 million.  Operating at six locations in Colorado, Kansas, Texas and Missouri, the company has the capacity to feed 355,000 head of cattle each year.  The cattle business contributed $271 million to total revenue in the most recently reported quarter ending June 2019, delivering a modest operating profit near $7.3 million. There has been considerable stress in the feed cattle industry.  The number of cattle in feedlots is down compared to last year, an unusual development...

Here is a short presentation on stock picking for green investors by AltEnergyStocks Editor Tom Konrad CFA, Ph.D., with a couple stock picks.  I gave this presentation as part of a workshop on divestment from fossil fuels and investment in green stocks at the third annual Climate Solutions Summit.  The Divestment part is here.

This is a presentation from the Third Annual Climate Solution Summit by Katelyn Kriesel, Board President of the Sustainable Economies Alliance on the case for divesting from Fossil Fuels. _Divestment Presentation - New Paltz Katelyn Kriesel is an expert in the field of sustainable finance. She is a Financial Advisor with Hansen’s Advisory Services, located in Fayetteville, NY, a firm that has specialized in Socially Responsible Investing for over 30 years. She is also Board President and founder of the Sustainable Economies Alliance (SEA), a not-for-profit organization that is raising community awareness regarding economic sustainability and empowerment. She uses this expertise...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Last month Greystone Logistics (GLGI:  OTC/PK) announced a new purchase order valued at $6.8 million to supply recycled plastic pallets to a national food and agribusiness company.  The order requires the fledgling Greystone to manufacture and deliver an unspecified number of the company’s proprietary plastic shipping pallets.  Whatever the number, the contract promises a big shift in Greystone’s prospects given that the contract value represents 9% of total sales in the fiscal year. It seems Greystone is gaining visibility in the logistics supply chain.  However, trading at less than a buck a share its stock seems to not have yet registered on the...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Last week management of energy storage developer BioSolar, Inc. (BSRC:  OTC/PK) provided an update on the company lithium-ion battery design.  The company’s engineers along with a manufacturing partner are still making changes to the design called the 21700 cell.  Additionally, the company recently decided to take greater control over raw materials supply, potentially sourcing and processing materials in the U.S.   Engineers at BioSolar have been trying to increase the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries by improving the anode component.  The plan is to sell 'super anodes' to battery manufacturers to make existing lithium-ion batteries work like super batteries.  Prototypes were tested in July...

by Jim Lane In hand we now have the latest earnings reports from what you might call the 8 Pathfinders – eight publicly traded stocks whose second quarter results offer insights into the health and performance of the advanced bioeconomy as 2019 heads towards its closing crescendos. Our 8 Pathfinders – In the world of global renewable diesel at scale, Neste (Neste.HE); pure-play enzymes, Novozymes (NVMB); In pharma and synbio, Codexis (CDXS); as a hybrid play in advanced fuels, Aemetis (AMTX); in advanced marine and jet fuels, Gevo (GEVO); for biodiesel and hydrocarbons, Renewable Energy Group (REGI); in advanced began foods,...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Hydrogen system developer McPhy Energy SA (MCPHY: PA) recently reported impressive sales growth in the first half of 2019  -  23% higher than last year.    Sales were boosted by delivery of a refueling station in Houdain, France for a bus operation that is 100% powered by hydrogen.  New orders for projects in Germany, Bangladesh and Switzerland will keeps the company busy in the month ahead installing additional hydrogen fueling stations and electrolysis equipment for hydrogen production. Despite the success, McPhy has not achieved profitability.  Thus the company remains dependent upon financing to support operations.  In 2017, the company secured an equity sales agreement with Kepler...

by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA August 2019 saw economic warning signs flashing and a worsening trade war with China. Unsurprisingly, this led to weakness in most stock market indexes. My broad income stock benchmark SDY was down 2.4% and the energy income stock benchmark YLCO fell 0.3% for the month. Most of the stocks in my 10 Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio continued to buck the trend, with the portfolio as a whole gaining 2.2% for the month. My real-money managed strategy, GGEIP, also turned in a solid 1.9% gain. The strong performance of my portfolios probably rises from the falling interest...

by Debra Fiakas, CFA The Trump Administration is using tariffs on China goods as a trade war tactic to pressure China into relenting to U.S. trade policy demands.  Unfortunately, the fallout has been heavy and widespread.  Farmers have taken the heaviest hits as China has dropped orders for corn and soybeans.  Ethanol producers have been ensnared in the trade war skirmish as well and in recent weeks have been caught an uncomfortable ‘pincer-like’ squeeze by the Trump Administration. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency has continued its practice of granting waivers to oil and gas refiners, eliminating the requirement to blend biofuel with the refiners’ petroleum...