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This summer, there's been a flurry of new green
announcements from the world's major oil firms. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Valero, Statoil, Marathon,
and Sunoco have all thrown their hats into the green ring.
According to an article published September 19, 2009,
in Newsweek:
The list [of Big Oil investors] goes on. And this time it's the real
deal. It's not just that these projects involve bigger money... it's that
companies are actually beginning to think about alternatives not just as a
tool for greenwashing (throw up a few solar panels
here, sponsor a conference on wind energy there) but as real businesses that
might turn real profits – or at least help make fossil-fuel production
more profitable. The catalyst is that governments are moving to force
industry to cut carbon emissions, creating a new "long-term regulatory
reality" that favors alternative energy, says PFC Energy Chairman J.
Robinson West. Meanwhile, President Obama's green-stimulus efforts and
China's massive investment in alternatives have created a serious market for
green technologies.
The fact that nations like Russia and Venezuela are pushing out big
oil companies also gives CEOs an incentive to consider green alternatives. So
does the fact that oil companies are among the world's biggest energy users,
and will ultimately need to offset emissions. "I believe the large
integrated oil firms will eventually become major players – perhaps
even the dominant players – in alternative energy," says Don Paul,
a former Chevron executive who now runs the University of Southern California's
Energy Institute.
Big Oil is taking a closer look at how [renewable energy]might be used
to increase efficiency internally, or to free up increasingly profitable
fossil fuels, like natural gas, for commercial sale. When you consider that
the top 15 oil and gas companies have a market capitalization of $1.9
trillion, it's clear that these firms themselves have the potential to be
major renewable customers.
Oil companies are also taking a harder look at how to make their own
business models work in the alternative sector. Companies like Chevron are
capitalizing on geological expertise to build large geothermal businesses.
Big Oil is going to be an increasingly important investor in
alternative energy. Venture-capital money has dried up. But with oil at $70 a
barrel, the internal venture arms of the major oil firms are increasing the
amount and percentage of investment going to alternatives. Historically, when
Big Oil spends a dollar on research, it will spend many hundreds more to
bring a product to market. If the new projects coming online this summer are
any indicator, alternatives may soon be awash in black gold.
U.S.
government subsidies into renewable energy are forming a green bubble. One
that's steadily inflating. But the catch is, only one alternative
energy is currently economically viable before subsidies... and that's
geothermal.
That
would explain the interest Big Business has in the sector.
·
Another
member of the oil community, Statoil,
has formed StatoilHydro,
to focus
on advanced geothermal development.
·
Google.org — the
charitable wing of the search engine giant — has become the largest
funder of enhanced geothermal
research in the country, outspending the U.S. government.
·
Alcoa, the
world's largest producer of aluminum, is actively participating in the
geothermal Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP).
And
then there's the mining industry.
·
Lihir Gold
has already used geothermal resources to build a power plant, which today
provides green electricity for the company’s mining operation in Papua
New Guinea.
·
BHP
Billiton is currently investigating the potential for using geothermal heat
in the Olympic Dam region of Southern Australia.
The smart money likes
geothermal.
Investing
in the growing green bubble could earn you very handsome returns, if you know
which companies to choose. Marin Katusa,
Casey’s energy strategist, does. Every single one of his 22 latest
picks has been a winner, with gains from 44% to 860% – that’s a
100% success rate. To find out how you can profit from winner #23, click here.
Marin Katusa
Casey’s Energy Report
Also Marin Katusa
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