BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Toxic find halts Philippine dive

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Toxic find halts Philippine dive Another reason for tree-huggers to love Mosanto. Oh yes. This might put a dent in the utterly dishonest and despicable lobbying and press campaign suggesting that GM foodstuffs are the answer to starvation and food shortages. Where are the new wonder crops, the ones we keep hearing about, the ones which produce high yields from marginal land, the ones capable of growing on saline soil ? Erm, they remain the theoretical children of the boffins. We have been looking at and listening to this promised future for decades now. Let them show the proof. Twenty years ought to have been sufficient, no? Meantime, Green Capitalists should take a look at some of the companies buying Black Earth, some of the most fertile soil on the planet. Land in Ukraine,once brutally collectivised by Stalin, is now being bought by western farmers who bring new expertise. And since the land was not raped by the collectivisation far lower level of inputs are needed than in the overworked soil of the West. Meantime the shares of Potash just keeep growing.

German minister criticises UK's renewables record | Environment | guardian.co.uk

German minister criticises UK's renewables record | Environment | guardian.co.uk At last someone has come out and stated the obvious. British Government commitment to renewables is as genuine as the famous 'dodgy dossier'. It has been obvious for a long time that Brown and his friends have decided that nuclear is the way to go. Not only that,but they even got caught trying to rig the public consultation and got slapped down by the UK Courts for it. Undeterred, they tried to skew the debate again, They are utterly devoid of shame,and having 'Accenturised' everything in the belief that everything must be measured,in order that progress can be shown. And just as when thirty years ago the workers of Lucas Aerospace spent two years consulting the entire staff before producing their 1200 page Alternative Corporate Plan, a plan which truly sought to turn swords into ploughshares ,and which would protect jobs by making 'socially useful' products such as dialysis machines rather than weapons, and which was first lauded and then cynically ignored by the then Labour Government, so New Labour are not really committed to the Green agenda now. Of course back then the real problem was that the plan hadn't come from the board. Management couldn't accept that the workforce might actually have good ideas. Nowadays Labour are still wedded to the white hot technological revolution promised by Harold Wilson. Unfortunately the technology they're in love with is out-dated. And still the idiots fail to see the economic benefits offered by the Clean Tech sector, which have been amply demonstrated by Germany. I spent 10 years in Britain and still love the place, particularly the wilder reaches. Daily I give thanks I now live in Ireland, a place where the Ministers in charge of two of our most important Ministries, those of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Communications,Energy & Natural Resources are Greens.

China's Suntech Power rises on bargain hunting: Associated Press Business News - MSN Money

China's Suntech Power rises on bargain hunting: Associated Press Business News - MSN Money The Green Capitalist thinks that once again the market has been 'analysed' by idiots with acne, idiots too clever to grasp simple concepts. The over-educated who never have actually been on a factory floor. And since their Clevernesses were good enough to screw the entire financial system just so they could pick up their commissions, now, having destroyed more shareholder value than Al Quaida or Stalin managed, they are now nervous as hell and jumping on every rumour. And since anyone who knew anything about solar or alternative energy and technology in the Brokers, which last had a head of steam in the aftermath of the 1973 oil shock is retired or dead and which was killed off when oil became ridiculously cheap again. Where it remained until lately. Younger readers will be unaware of two day queues for the rationed petrol,now doubled to 50p per gallon. That's nines litres for a pound. And so technology which promised so much got frozen, and indeed,frozen out. And now we find ourselves having to find out for ourselves,as the kid hacks don't understand. So as when Germany had a recent look at the REFIT rates it was going offer, recently, so it is with Spain and the awaited Royal Decree. Some are even unaware that Suntech have huge back-orders. More are unaware that their Andalay system could become an industry leader. Journalists write, whether or not they're right. Lazy ones used to have to go the library of cuttings kept by all papers. Stories were based on what someone else had written and got into print,and the errors in one article would be repeated over and over. And the Internet amplifies this. So it is a pleasure to read this article about Suntech (STP). Down by half since January,the share price has being slowly beginning to crawl back up. Now dear reader,excuse me while I check the change jar and what I can find down the back of the sofa.

Zignals - About Zignals.com - Stock Alerts and market alerts

Zignals - About Zignals.com - Stock Alerts and market alerts This is a new Irish start up which has attracted money from Microsoft,and which should interest many of you out there. Or not. Worth watching.

Bosch Acquires Ersol Solar, Large Industrials Moving Into Solar Sector | Alternative Energy Stocks

Bosch Acquires Ersol Solar, Large Industrials Moving Into Solar Sector | Alternative Energy Stocks We had one of the first fridges in our small west of Ireland town and would be still working if my mother hadn't foolishly bought a new one after 25 years. Our fridge was made by Bosch. Now we see Bosch positioning themselves for the future in the solar industry. For a firm so associated with the automotive industry - just look under the car bonnet - it is true that a company such as Bosch is first in it for the money, and don't usually get it right. So now we have yet more proof that the sector is viable,vital and growing. As if we needing telling.

German REFIT Scare

Solar took a nasty dive last week after the German government began debating the country's solar feed-in tariff.

The REFIT rate (Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff) has been a vital driver of the huge leap in Solar PV production,installation and exports,led by companies which have largely located in areas of high unemployment in the former DDR.

The feed-in tariff basically requires utilities to buy electricity from solar sources at a fixed, above-market rate for 20 years. And each year the law is in effect, the size of the tariff declines for new entrants. This allows for the fact that the first movers had higher costs since they would have had all the hassle and expense that Pioneers and Early Adapters usually have to go through.

The aim is to offer consumers a payback time of about 8 years, although some claim payback times as low as 4 years. Financial Companies and Banks compete to offer financial products for purchase and installation of the Solar PV units.And as the technology improves and the numbers of customers builds up, so the cost of entry reduces,which is the reason for the gradual reduction.The cost of this subsidy has the merit of only paying for power produced. Since the cost of the subsidy is usually spread across all electricity users,it is usually just a pretty small bit of the averagee consumer bill.

The alternative subsidy driver has been the nameplate consumption figure and this relies on the manufacturers claimed output. Now I am a great believer in the public having their money spent cost-effectively, and can't help but think that this method might lead to a certain amount of inflation in claimed output figures.

However, because the scheme has been such an enormous success in Germany some parties fearws that the tariff could cost taxpayers up to €120 Billon by 2035,x there was a proposal to change the 15 percent reduction scheduled for 2010, to a 25 percent reduction.

By last weekend, happily,an agreement was reached where support would decline by only 8 percent in each of the next two years, and by 9 percent in 2011.

With Germany home to some of the most enticing and consumer-friendly initiatives in the world,there are lots of solar companies there,and this poloitical interference caused the stock prices to sneeze a bit. Although the market recovered it is a reminder that the sector is volatile and can yo-yo a bit.Green Capitalists can take advantage of lower prices to top up or to get in for first time. My guess is that the shares will seem cheap soon enough,As the cost of producing solar cells keeps reducing,parity arrives earlier than forecast.

Geothermal Electricity Booming in Germany

Geothermal Electricity Booming in Germany My reader (Hi Mammy!) will know that The Green Capitalist has been following Geothermal closely,mostly about Ormat.But I hadn't expected to discover that the Germans have moved into this industry too. And given the enormous success they have had with PV Solar over the last 4 years,building an industry and 150000 jobs in only 4 years from a standing start, this should be an interesting space to watch. And just as I prefer to have shares in the makers of the technology rather than the end users,and have chosen Ormat, so now off go my minions to find out more about Kalina method. More anon.

World-first as Irish firm supplies tidal energy to grid - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

Here in Ireland we have been blessed by nature in many ways. Most readers will of course be familiar with images of the natural beauty of this country. Indeed, it is the very thing which most people think of when asked. But we also have huge assets we are only now beginning to realise we can harness,situated where we are, out on the western edge of Europe. Here we endure/enjoy -depending on whether we have the right clothes on for the conditions - the full force of the Atlantic rolling in from the west. This gives us lots of wind resources,and we have lots of wind farms, a lot of which were pioneered by Airtricity, a firm I have written about previously. But one resource which was known of and harnessed by the monks of 1500 years ago is only now coming to commercial application. Who knows when Tidal Power was first harnessed? Yet all around the Irish coast are inlets which have the archaeological remains of tidal mills,used for grinding wheat and other cereals. Several technologies are being developed,and which will emerge as the dominant one only time will tell. Several are being tested at serious prototype level, and as an Irishman, I would hope that the winner will be one developed here. However,I suspect that a variety of viable methods will emerge,each suited to a different location. But is great to see that that one technology has now gone live and is feeding power to the grid. I'll return to this and give it the coverage it deserves in a future post. Meantime let's hope for an IPO and for the success of the company. World-first as Irish firm supplies tidal energy to grid - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

$135 Oil and the Ignorance of 'Analysts'.

One of the things that really pisses the Green capitalist off is the Ignorance of Analysts. Seldom has a such a bunch of overpaid, over-pampered and over-educated bunch of idiots existed.Not since before the French Revolution. Earning, and I use that word loosely, salaries and bonuses vastly more than those we, the people who invest money or paid work can only dream of. Warren Buffett has always refused to invest in firms he couldn't understand. And ever since the demise of the Dotcom boom, Brokers have tended to being very conservative on any alternative stocks. This means that most of what you hear is bollocks. If my language has offended anyone,I do apologise. It is a measure of my anger. So it goes. But because these gilded youths are precisely the geniuses responsible for the credit crunch we are all enjoying so much, can anyone think of a reason to believe a word they say? Yet Mr. Market reacts to their pronouncements as though these people actually know and understand the disruptive technology model. They don't. It would seem that just as the elite went to Cavalry Regiments prior to WW1 whilst plebs went to the infantry,once again the elite and our leadership are perfectly prepared for the previous war. All it takes is for one 'analyst' to issue a negative opinion and the stock crashes. Heaven forfend that anyone should suggest that brokers ever act to protect themselves and their interests ahead of the interests of their clients. Only cynical investors will wonder about the curious case of the Swiss Bank which downgraded all,repeat all, the Irish Banks because of worry about their exposure to the sub-prime crisis.Promptly the stocks plummet,even though the exposure of the Irish Banks was mostly imaginary. Naturaly, this is entirely unconnected to the fact that that UBS fessed up to a $multi-Billon writedown on dodgy loans a matter of days later. And at least once more subsequently. Sheer coincidence. So it goes. What raised my ire is the way one respected analyst, Cheryl Tang of Goldman Sachs downgraded Solarfun.Her claim that it would lose up to a quarter over the next year. Solarfun became a 'Sell' That would be acceptable except she upped both her price target and earnings estimate for the stock at the same time. That seems very odd,if not hypocritical. And despite solar stocks having being reporting record numbers, growth and profit lately, the weight of Goldman Sachs was enough to cause the sector as a whole to lose nearly 20%. Maddening,yes, but The Green Capitalist is used to this. Basically, the overpaid who even manage to get paid for failure are as remote from the real world as are our Judges alleged to be. It's almost as if we have an economy run by a bunch of Mammy's boys, living at home with their parents and getting fed and having laundry and ironing done for them, and hence have absolutely no idea what it costs out in the world. Sorry, Reader, for the rant.

Google eyes Israeli geothermal firm Ormat | Green Tech - CNET News.com

I recently wrote about Ormat, and I have been following them for some time now. Not only do they themselves own and operate geothermal electricity power stations in the United States, but they also are the leading manufacturer of the equipment. Now we have this report from C-Net reporting the interest in the company from Google. I had hitherto this report no idea that Ormat is an Israeli company. And Israeli firms have developed many new technologies and products in renewables. So just as it is better to own shares in companies such as Danish Vestas,the wind turbine maker than in individual windfarms, so it make sense to invest in Ormat shares. Ormat shares have risen from $ 34 to being on the way to $50+,as I write. Maybe time for me to see just how much loose cash I have in the jars I throw it in!. (NTSE: ORA) I read some nonsense yesterday,where someone who seemed to be Israeli gloated that Libya and other Arab Countries would be be unlikely to use solar thermal electricity because a lot of the technology had been invented was invented by Jews. What rubbish. The implication that "Jewish technology" exists and is somehow superior to other peoples is a little unpleasant, and echoes something I heard before.... Google eyes Israeli geothermal firm Ormat | Green Tech - CNET News.com