RETIRE.FUND: Fuel cells

Image by TailspinT via Flickr

The world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen next week for COP15 (United nations Climate Change Conference) or what is billed as the Green Energy summit, have now all committed to at least some reduction in carbon emissions over the next decade. The United States, who virtually ignored the Kyoto Accord under President George W. Bush, is actually leading the push for carbon reduction this time as President Obama has already pledged a 17% reduction by 2020.

China followed suit with a pledge of their own and even India, albeit with a much smaller promise, is on board. Canada will follow the U.S. (it really has no choice) and Europe has already done more than all of the above in the push for carbon reduction in our atmosphere and the Green Energy revolution which is supremely evident as you take the Euro train from Hamburg to Berlin and pass literally thousands of wind turbines churning out power along the way.

Companies that have completely embraced carbon reduction and the concept of green or renewable energy which is non polluting (or at least carbon reducing) have gained significantly this year and stand to profit immensely in the coming years. Some of these companies resemble those who embraced the information revolution in the early 70's (Microsoft, Apple etc)
or the web revolution ten years ago (Google, Yahoo etc)

It is my humble opinion that this Green Energy revolution has the potential to top those previous market movers as the planet begins the long, arduous road to cleaning itself of carbon pollution. Soon photo's like the one pictured here, of a fuel cell a powered airplane, will be commonplace. Wind, Solar, Fuel Cells, these are the winners and the future of energy for the next ten years. The losers will be coal, corn ethanol, biomass and oil. Nuclear energy, while still being debated as an also ran, has the potential to be eliminated entirely by fuel cell power plants burning, at first, natural gas (which has an abundant supply of hydrogen and produces less pollution) and finally, pure hydrogen, once the storage issue is resolved (and it will be).

If you are not on this green energy bandwagon right now, then what are you waiting for? It will not only change the way the world powers itself, but also the way the world invests in energy. There will be big winners and big losers. Where do you want to be positioned as COP15 approaches and green energy, once again, enters the world spot light.

Image by Damian Kettlewell for Vancouver-False Creek via Flickr

Alvin Toffler, in his insightful work ‘The Third Wave’, pointed out that humanity has achieved three revolutionary shifts of civilization throughout history. Firstly, the Agricultural Revolution enabled humanity to accumulate much wealth. The Industrial Revolution made possible mass production of industrial products, and The Information Revolution transformed the ways people think, work, and enjoy life.

Now, we are witnessing the newest, most powerful revolution of all time: The “Green Revolution.” It will change the way we power this planet. It will change the way we live, work, travel and more importantly, from an investment point of view, the way we invest. The catalyst for these massive changes may be the COP 15 Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen on Dec 7th 2009.

Make no mistake. This is one of "the" most important international conferences of our lifetime. If agreements can be reached in even some basic areas being discussed, then this meeting will have as much impact on your life as the Industrial revolution had for your great grandfather. Strictly from a monetary point of view, it will dwarf the financial impact of the information revolution of the 20th century. We are already seeing major investment houses moving into the green energy sector in a big way.

This year, Wind and Solar companies have posted significant increases in their stock prices. So how can you benefit from this monumental shift in investment strategy when any company with even a chance to advance in this industry is making investors money? PEM fuel cells, that's where! Fuel cells burning, at first, natural gas, and eventually pure hydrogen. This the future of energy on this planet. Wind and Solar will be "bit players" in comparison!

For over 20 years a Canadian company has been developing PEM fuel cell technology and this year it began shipping various product to buyers in the U.S., Canada, India, Europe and soon China. This company is so entrenched in this industry that it holds hundreds of the original patents for the underlying technology and has spawned from it's ranks, other companies with offshoot technologies. Three of them are, Fuel Cell Technologies, Plug Power and Hydrogenics. They are often referred to as "Baby Ballards" after the original fuel cell champion, Ballard Power systems of Vancouver, British Columbia.

After Chrysler and Ford bought into Ballard in a big way, about 7 years ago, investors took notice and drove up the stock. Since then, because of the slow pace of the "Auto" part of the technology, investors lost interest and the stock price dove below $2.00 after Ballard sold off it's "Auto" technology to these industry players.

Investors have short attention spans, don't they? Sometimes I wonder if investors can see the big picture at all. Most are simply traders, and not investors. At this time in history, Ballard Power is a "diamond" in the rough of the green energy revolution, and investors who are paying attention stand to increase their wealth tremendously.

It is not in the auto industry that this company will dominate. It is in clean energy production in general, replacing major power plants with giant fuel cell stacks burning, at first, Natural Gas and eventually pure Hydrogen. It is in the propulsion systems of buses, forklifts, ships and trains that Ballard will eventually make it's very big mark in the Green Energy Space. It is also in back up power generation like that recently shipped to India for their wireless systems. 310 fuel cell generators are being shipped to India by Dec 31st. It is the start of an order for 10,000 fuel cell generators to one of the most dynamic growing economies on the planet. This contract alone could end up being 30,000 generators, and that is only "one part" of Ballard's expertise.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars? Possibly! Electric cars? possibly! Even if electric cars win out, where will the electrical power come from. It will come from power plants incorporating giant fuel cell stacks, manufactured by Ballard Power Systems, and replacing dirty Coal, Oil and even Nuclear plants.

Green energy is not the only green that will be produced by this sleeping tech giant. I have owned Ballard for over 9 years, and this year, because of their production in these areas, I increased my holdings tenfold. My money is where my mouth is, where is yours?

Read more: Future of Energy

Oct 28-09 The Obama Effect

RETIRE.FUND

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The smoke is clearing over Copenhagen and the COP15 Green Energy Summit!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Impact of the "Green Revolution" on your Retirefunds!

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