t boone pickens youtube
Invest Smart Grid
Likely over the CAP and Trade "bill, many investors are jumping on the bandwagon of renewable energy. And why not. With the government on the mandate of a program to limit and trade will increase the cost of electricity, there are many new opportunities to harness the flow of dollars of investment from public and private sources. They are also seeking investment opportunities through company stock intelligent network.
This head long press on alternative power generation is causing investors to take a new look at the electricity grid system of age. While there have been attempts to move to a market-based system of power generation, most of these efforts have not achieved their original goals. By Moreover, electricity transmission and distribution system remains the same and is a big problem. For example, T. Boone Pickens has announced plans to rein in to build the world's largest wind farms in western Texas. Part of the reason is the lack of adequate transmission lines to carry electricity from Wind remote sites to the cities. Here is where a program of the network makes intelligent investment sense for investors.
The intelligent network investment
This old network system is designed to distribute electrical power generation plants that are consistently very close. farms construction of high winds in West Texas requires a way to move that power to urban areas in need. Moreover, what if the wind stops blowing during the hottest days of summer? Our current grid system is ill suited to handle the variability of new sources of electricity. Resolution transition to new energy sources is only half the battle. After generating power, it is necessary to distribute it to where it is needed at the right time, in the right quantities and at a lower cost.
You can make an interesting comparison with electrical power network and communications network. If Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, were to return today, does not recognize the modern communication system with day based on digital Internet and wireless networks with their mobile phones, Web 2.0, YouTube and Twitter. On the other hand, if Thomas Edison were to return, he easily recognize our electric transmission and distribution system, as it was one of the first architects of the grid. While it has grown significantly, the basic design remains the same.
The Smart Grid is the answer the major conceptual changes necessary to adapt the power system to one that is more efficient, adaptable and capable of handling the variability of the sources of power, while helping customers use electricity more efficiently. Like the evolution of the Internet and dot-com boom and bust, this is a great opportunity with many unknown risks.
The Opportunity
According to Cisco, the intelligent network offers significant investment opportunities that are bigger than the Internet for those willing to take advantage of them. Jeff Immelt, GE's CEO believes that the Smart Grid will be the largest investment in the first half of the 21st century. President Obama is counting on investment by government and businesses in the intelligent network to help free the U.S. from its dependence on foreign oil.
According to a 2009 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers $ 2 billion, will require investment in our electricity infrastructure for the year 2030. The Brattle Group estimates it will take $ 1.5 trillion between 2010 and 2030 to pay for infrastructure improvements needed additional electrical system tomorrow.
These investments are carried out throughout the grid, at home, in buildings, universities, neighborhoods in cities and between continents. We are already seeing some of these improvements. Some homes have smart meters that track electricity use in detail, providing information to public services. Finally, owners can access this data so they can make adjustments in their consumption of energy. The cost of these meters is quite high and is transmitted consumers. The hope is that once consumers have access to information about their electricity consumption, take steps to reduce electricity consumption compensation cost.
The risks of investing in the smart grid
This raises the question whether there is a cost-benefit front many of the investments to achieve the goal of an intelligent network. Many people equate intelligent network to the growth of the Internet. As the investment that comes with the growth of the Internet, there were some that provide valuable benefits. Others never bore fruit. I suspect we will see many smart grid investment experience the same fate. For example, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on April 27, 2009, the house smart meters cost $ 250 to $ 500 per unit installed. At this price, it is not clear whether the meters will provide sufficient benefits to cover their costs.
The parallel investment in the Internet is an interesting analogy. The big winners were able to attach to the "murderer" that drove business for them. However, there were many losers who have not achieved their promise. Finally, that provide many of the components and installed the infrastructure went well, although they were not big winners.
OK, what is the killer application of the network intelligent? The best definition I found for a killer app comes from www.netreturn.com "A new product or service that provides a total category new and for being the first dominates the creation of a huge return on initial investment. "Some people believe that the murderer of the intelligent network application will electrical plug in the car. I'm not sure that meets the definition very well.
Anyone remember the smart home? He has been trying to get off the ground for several years. This was another idea to put some forward which has not been very successful, as the payment has been difficult to generate.
Smart companies Grid and populations
There are a number of startup and established companies to create intelligent network products for this market. Intelligent actions pure grid works like Comverge (COMV)), Ruggedcom (RCM.TO) and EnerNOC (ENOC) all became public in the second quarter of 2007. Some large companies like GE, Honeywell, Cisco and Google are smart grid offerings. Note that the size of its intelligent network services is relatively small compared to its total sales.
Companies that supply and install many of the components of an intelligent network should provide a good performance, as well as companies selling picks and shovels to the miners. Actions Smart grid companies such as ABB Ltd (ABB), Siemens AG, and GE are likely to benefit from power plants to build the new intelligent network infrastructure. A way to address this market through an ETF that holds shares in a fund intelligent network. CTIUS Cleantech Index, created by the Cleantech Group LLC is the basis of funds exchange traded (ETFs) that hold the stocks in the intelligent network PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio ETF (Amex: PZD) and KSM Cleantech ETF in Israel. The index includes large companies such as ABB and Siemens, as well as small companies like Vestas Wind Systems (VWS.CO) Itron (ITRI), Trimble Navigation (TRMB) and Ruggedcom (RCM.TO). These ETFs hold stocks of companies that focus on clean technologies, not just smart supply companies.
Investing in shares Smart networks offer unique opportunities. It will also create substantial losses for not cautious. Although it is tempting to bet on what will be the killer application of the intelligent network, a more conservative strategy is to focus on companies can demonstrate real costs and benefits of your products or services and generate positive cash flow.
T. Boone Pickens: Energy Security Plan