We’re obviously big believers in greentech or cleantech here at TTMYGG, so it was interesting to see this list of high-tech luminaries who have made the changeover. There are some big shots on the list, which shows that cleantech is getting serious.
- Vinod Khosla, Founder Khosla Ventures.
- John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins.
- Elon Musk, Chairman, Tesla, Chairman, CEO SolarCity
- Steve Jurvetson, Partner Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
- Bill Gross, Founder Idealab.
- Al Gore, Chairman Generation Investment Managment, Partner Kleiner Perkins.
- Bill Joy, Partner Kleiner Perkins.
Unfortunately, unless you’re a big shot, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to invest with them or in them, but one thing you could do is join them! Here, thanks to earth2tech.com, is a map of 101 cleantech startups. Take a look at what’s around you, or somewhere you wouldn’t mind living, and get in on the ground floor!
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I’m going to take a break from George W today. I need something positive to talk about. We all know the U.S. economy has slowed down. Unemployment is up, inflation is up, the stock market is down, earnings are down, and the pace of venture capital investment has slowed dramatically. We’ve seen dramatically fewer technology IPOs this year, and even the once “immune” technology sector is seeing the effects of the ailing economy.
One area bucking this trend is green technology. A United Nations report indicates over $148 billion was invested into alternative energy last year, up a whopping 60 percent from the $92.6 billion spent in 2006. The report describes this as a “green energy gold rush”. Wind energy led with $50 billion in investments, but solar was the largest gainer with a 90 percent rise, totaling $28 billion in investments. Even high profile venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins have established funds and partner areas earmarked for green investments.
What’s great is that this appears to be a global trend led by Europe, which as we all know is far more advanced from clean tech and alternative energy perspectives than the rest of the world. There appears to be strong and growing interest in emerging countries such as Brazil, China, and India as well, as these countries recognize their growth and development will soon be hindered by their consumption and dependence on foreign energy. In case you’re wondering, not only do we pollute the most in the U.S. (on both an absolute and per capita basis), but we are one of the worst, least advanced clean tech, developed countries in the world.
Recently, Starbucks has been in the news quite a bit. Starbucks founder Howard Shultz has taken the helm again after CEO Jim Donald was sent packing as the company saw a three percent drop in transactions for the first time ever. The stock is also down over 50 percent from a high of nearly $40, which it reached May 2006.
I came across a USA Today article called Starbucks going back to grinding beans. The article discussed a recent interview with Shultz and the steps he is taking to bring the glory days back to Starbucks. One thing that incensed me in the article was Shultz’s blatant talk about waste as a competitive advantage. Part of Shultz’s strategy will be to cut permitted holding time, which means a shorter period of time between when coffee is brewed and when it is thrown away. Shultz goes as far as to brag that, “We’ll spill out more coffee than most coffee shops sell. You won’t be able to find a fresher cup of coffee on the planet.”
While the coffee may indeed be fresher, this statement makes me livid. I know they’re not pouring toxic waste down their drains, but this is a blatant disregard for corporate responsibility. I may be naïve in that most food establishments throw away tons of food every day, but I find it pretty low when it’s used as bragging rights. I don’t even want to think about the amount of energy needed to pick coffee beans, roast the beans, transport the beans, grind the beans, and brew the coffee, only to have it poured down the drain.
I’m not a huge coffee drinker to begin with, but when I do, I will go out of my way to avoid visiting a Starbucks. Starbucks may face different challenges as the value of the dollar continues to decline while the costs of staple products, food, and gas continue to race higher. Perhaps their problem isn’t holding time, but the fact that a mediocre cup of coffee can set you back $4 – $5. When you’re struggling to pay your mortgage or make ends meet, carrying a $4 cup of coffee as a fashion statement is probably the last thing on your mind. As a side note, Shultz cancelled plans to test smaller $1 cups of coffee in the Seattle market. Go figure.
Here in Silicon Valley, this year has not been kind for stocks. The stocks of some of our biggest companies, including Google, Apple are down significantly. Which is too bad. I own some of that stock. So too are environmental stocks, apparently.
Cleantech Indicies has a stock index called “The Cleantech Index” (AMEX:CTIUS), which they describe as:
The first, and only, stock market index intended to reflect the surging global demand for clean technology (cleantech) products and services. By tracking the market performance of the leading publicly traded* cleantech companies, CTIUS is the industry standard index that underlies a growing range of financial products (such as exchange traded funds). As such, investors now have an easy, cost-effective, and liquid means to invest in the broadcleantech investment category – and do so with far less risk than previously possible.
Currently, CTIUS is comprised of 47 companies that are leaders in cleantech innovation and commercial deployment across a broad range of industry sectors: from alternative energy and energy efficiency to advanced materials, from air & water purification, eco-friendly agriculture/nutrition to power transmission, etc.
As you can see by this chart here, the Cleantech Index is down by something like 40% from its highs in December
Now may be an interesting time to invest if you’ve been looking for a way to invest in clean environmental technologies. But before you buy, take a look at some of the stocks in the CTIUS Index:
| Company Name |
Symbol |
% Weighting |
|
| Spx Corp |
SPW |
3.63% |
| Corning Inc |
GLW |
3.36% |
| Itron Inc |
ITRI |
3.34% |
| Cree Inc |
CREE |
3.33% |
| Pall Corp |
PLL |
3.31% |
| Nalco Holding Co. |
NLC |
3.18% |
| ABB Ltd. (ADS) |
ABB |
3.17% |
| Trimble Navigation Ltd |
TRMB |
3.14% |
| Donaldson Co |
DCI |
3.14% |
| Roper Indus |
ROP |
3.13% |
| Ansys Inc |
ANSS |
3.01% |
| Veolia Environnement |
VE |
2.96% |
| Clean Harbors Inc. |
CLHB |
2.92% |
| Clarcor Inc |
CLC |
2.83% |
| Woodward Governor |
WGOV |
2.81% |
| Siemens Ag Ads |
SI |
2.80% |
| Hexcel Corp |
HXL |
2.80% |
| Dionex Corp |
DNEX |
2.57% |
| First Solar Inc. |
FSLR |
2.52% |
| Martek Biosciences Corp. |
MATK |
2.46% |
| Interface Inc. |
IFSIA |
2.43% |
| Baldor Electric Co |
BEZ |
2.39% |
| Esco Technologies |
ESE |
2.35% |
| International Rectifier Corp |
IRF |
2.27% |
| Tetra Tech |
TTEK |
2.12% |
| Lindsay Manufacturing Co. |
LNN |
2.05% |
| EnerSys Inc |
ENS |
2.01% |
| Headwaters Inc. |
HW |
1.98% |
| Ormat Technologies Inc |
ORA |
1.86% |
| Insituform Technol’a’ |
INSU |
1.58% |
| Badger Meter |
BMI |
1.55% |
| Fuel Tech N.V. |
FTEK |
1.54% |
| Kadant Inc |
KAI |
1.52% |
| Zoltek Cos Inc |
ZOLT |
1.40% |
| Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd |
STP |
1.39% |
| Polypore International Inc |
PPO |
1.31% |
| Energy Conversion Devices Inc |
ENER |
1.12% |
| LDK Solar Co Ltd |
LDK |
0.91% |
| Echelon Corp |
ELON |
0.61% |
| American Superconductor Corp |
AMSC |
0.50% |
| Power-One Inc |
PWER |
0.42% |
| Comverge Inc |
COMV |
0.26% |
| EnerNOC Inc |
ENOC |
0.13% |
|
Earth2Tech, a cool environmental investments and technology site has a handy dandy cleantech map mashup which visually places green companies on a Google map! An interesting way to learn more about what green energy / cleantech startups are in your area.
