Years ago when I was house-hunting in Tuscany, an over-enthusiastic estate agent proudly showed us a pile of rubble,described as suitable for renovation (!). Apart entirely from the ruinous state of the place,which would neatly describe how our finances would've been had we bought the place, what really killed any deal that day was the smell of the place. It reeked of sulphur. Or sulphur dioxide,the rotten-eggs smell. We mentioned this to the ambitious young man. He assured us that soon we would get so used to the smell! On the way to this abandoned ruin near Lardarello we had driven up into the Alta Maremma,a place quite different from the Tuscany of Chiantishire.Snaking across the landscape were pipelines apparently clad in aluminium foil,looking as though left over from a Sci-Fi film.
All these tubes led to the Lardarello Geothermal Power plant,which was the world's first,electricity having first been produced there in 1904. Used since Etruscan times for baths,nowadays power sufficient for 1 million homes is produced by injecting cold water into the hot granite below ground. (Yes, you did read that right; one million homes.)The steam produced is collected at 200 C,and used to power turbines. The 1973 Oil Shock led to some interest in this technology in the USA,which has many areas suitable for the development of geothermal power. However the return of cheap oil meant the world simply forgot about it until lately. There are lots of small cap American companies leasing increasing amounts of land with known potential in the western United States,many of which will become multi-baggers,many of which will not. But just as in the Gold Rush,when some prospectors got rich,the majority didn't,whilst the store-owners who sold shovels,pick-axes tools and supplies prospered mightily,so The Green Capitalist seeks to be the store-owner. This led me to thinking about what these companies will need to exploit this natural source of free energy,as I'd rather be the guy selling the shovels than the guy sweating in a hole.
Ormat Technologies,Inc(NYSE:ORA) not only build and supply the kit geothermal developers need,having a large chunk of that market,but also operate sites themselves.The company designs, develops, owns and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants around the world. Additionally, the company designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and recovered energy power units and other power-generating equipment, and provides related services. Ormat Technologies has more than four decades of experience in the development of environmentally-sound power, primarily in geothermal and recovered-energy generation. The share price is up 35% year-on-year,and even after a huge drop in January has recovered to be up 20% over the last 3 months. with pressure for clean energy sourcing being mandated by increasing numbers of US States I think this is one share I would love to stick a couple of thousand dollars in before the dollar climbs back. It also pays a dividend,though not one to get too excited about.
There seems to be constant good news reported for this stock,and with California demanding that renewables must provide a hugely increased share of power utilities sell. And that will further drive the market.
Do bear in mind that I am not authorised or qualified to offer advice on investing,and I assume you are adult enough to make your own mistakes and decisions.
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