The CleanTech and Green Theme is being increasingly used by fraudsters and fly by night operators in the stock market.CO2 Tech Ltd.,a Pink Sheets Company has been accused of being a Pump and Dump Stock floated by 6 people.The Company which was supposed to be a Global Warming Products selling company has found to be […]
Note it would not be surprising if the allegations were true as the Indian stock market is a pump and dump heaven of IPOs with blatant manipulation by market operators.Price Rigging Rings are also present with mid cap and small cap scams happening with an alarming regularity.With Corruption touching a new high,the Supreme Court has taken over the investigation of the Telecom Scam Probe from the Government.This has led the CBI which is mostly a ruling party puppet to question some top billionaires and politicians.However it remains to be seen if some of the top fish are caught or just some small scapegoats are imprisoned.
Green Investing in India makes a great theme but investing in specific CleanTech companies is a tough task.Some of the biggest Renewable Energy Companies have led to serious losses eg. Suzlon or Moser Baer.However Renewable Energy in India has a great future and a rising tide will lift all boats.Note the list of solar power […]
Geothermal Energy is the proverbial poor cousin to wind and solar energy.Only 10 GW of Geothermal Energy Capacity has been installed and the growth rate is a pathetic 3-4% compared to the over 50% CAGR seen for solar energy and around 30% for Wind Energy.Geothermal Energy produces electricity at a reasonable cost in mature locations and unlike Solar,Wind does not suffer from intermittency problems.However a number of problems dog geothermal energy development.Despite huge promise,Geothermal Energy faces a slow painful death and unless something dramatic happens will remain a niche renewable energy source.Canadian companies which are the leaders in consolidating the fragmented industry like Ram Power and Magma Power are facing huge problems.While Ram Power saw its CEO go,Magma is now looking at other renewable energy opportunities.
Solar Panel Prices have decreased at a jaw dropping 50% in the last 2 years and will probably decrease 10-15% more in 2011.That is an astounding number given the increasing energy and electricity prices being faced around the globe.Though solar energy is costlier than other forms of energy,it starts on a low base.With 2010 solar growth pegged at more than 100% and 16 GW of solar panels installed,Solar Energy is starting to become more mainstream.Like Solar,the entry of Chinese players has decreased the cost of Wind Energy as well.Despite increasing input steel and copper prices,wind turbine prices have declined.Stiff competition amongst Chinese WTG companies has made the price of a Wind Turbine go as low as $600,000-700,000 in China.This has brought a depression in prices in other places in the world as well.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has been mooted as one of the main weapons against climate change.With little alternative to Coal based power generation,CCS is touted as a temporary solution.However CCS as a global warming solution is like putting lipstick on a pig.The technology for CCS remains immature at best and even the biggest users of coal,the Chinese utilities have ruled out using CCS before 2015.Though big pilot projects have been announced in Australia,USA and UK,CCS is not a serious option as far as dealing with climate change.This however has not prevented companies from playing in this area.Toshiba is the latest company to join the CCS fray hoping to set up a 5 MW pilot plant in JV with India’s biggest power utility NTPC.