Originally published July 3 2005
Alternative energy companies getting attention from public, investors
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Companies dealing in alternative energy sources were largely overlooked by investors until recently, the Post-Gazette reports, when soaring gas and energy costs made the usually more expensive alternative energy sources a more realistic investment.
With oil prices near $60 a barrel, some savvy investors are betting that there must be a few attractive alternatives out there.
Shares of many of these companies can be too puny for major mutual funds or hedge funds to consider, or are quite volatile.
But with energy prices sky-high, shares of some companies involved in alternative-energy sources, or with improving existing sources, are looking more attractive.
The safest way to play alternative energy is through larger companies boosting their focus on the area, such as Sasol Ltd., a South African oil and natural-gas company with a market valuation of almost $19 billion.
Sasol long has had a major business taking low-grade coal and converting it to liquid fuels.
In 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Sasol's American depository receipts were up 39 cents at $27.47.
FPL Group Inc. is among the companies making a big bet on wind-powered energy, which accounts for about 1 percent of U.S. consumption currently but could reach as high as 4 percent or 5 percent in the next decade, some investors say, if energy prices stay high and governments around the globe continue to provide incentives to companies to switch to cleaner wind-produced energy.
FPL, which sells electricity through its Florida Power & Light unit and has a $16 billion market valuation, is involved in wind energy through its FPL Energy unit, the largest operator and developer of wind farms and turbines in the U.S. Its 45 U.S. wind facilities command an estimated 40 percent of the country's wind market.
That is why some more adventurous investors are focusing on stocks like KFX Inc., a company aiming to take inexpensive, water-laden, low-grade coal and convert it into high-quality -- and much more expensive -- coal.
For two decades, KFX has been working on technology to take Western U.S. coal that sells for about $6 a ton, clean it up and make it more comparable to more-expensive Eastern coal.
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