In his inaugural speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama highlighted alternative energy as one of the primary challenges facing the country. In describing his administration's approach to the issue, he stirringly declared that "we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and our factories." On the official White House website, Obama has also outlined a few of the energy & environment initiatives he's thinking about, including the investment of $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote a clean energy future; systematic efforts to reduce imports of oil; the promotion of hybrid electric cars; and the implementation of a "cap-and-trade" program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by the year 2050.

For proponents of alternative energy, this all sounds well and good -- but which specific companies are set to benefit from this renewed governmental emphasis on alternative energy sources? While Obama mentioned the sun, the wind and the soil, this doesn't necessarily mean that all solar companies are set to take off or that all wind power companies are poised for a run-up. Not so fast. In an article for Seeking Alpha, for example, Eric Savitz of Barron's argues that not all solar stocks are created equal: "While solar stocks often trade in lock-step, the companies in the group have distinct differences..."

For the TradeKing community: What alternative energy stocks (or ETFs) do you think will do the best over the next 12-24 months?

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[image: Driving Into the Future by kevindooley on Flickr]

T. Boone Pickens is touting wind. And I think he has a vested interest in some of the companies around Texas and Oklahoma. A self made billionair, who made his money in oil, he might be a good one to follow. Then...maybe not.

I haven't looked too hard at clean energy stocks themselves so I can't say. However I can say this, each type of energy has drawback and benefits. Nuclear is cheap, but you have that pesky waste to deal with. Solar is costly, has a limited life span (panels only last so long) and it requires lots of space for a little bit of power, but its clean and once it is up its free. Wind power needs flat lands to work, but it is noise makes it unsuitable for urban areas. Hydro is clean and very productive, but it require major rivers. Natural gas is clean, we have a lot of it, but it to will run out some day. Thermal towers take up lots of space and cost quite a bit on count of all the mirrors but as bonus, unlike solar that also uses the sun it still works when the sun is down. And lastly there is geothermal it clean and over the long hall, but limited by where you live. Oh and I almost forgot clean coal...ah...no idea.
:-P

Now this is just about strait energy, what about cars? Well there really has yet been a good alternative to gasoline. Solar cars need the sun. Pure electric cars take hours to charge and the batteries have to be replaced every so many years. Hybrid cars still need gas. Natural gas cars can take up to 16 hour to refill but you can get around 200 miles per fill up and you can do this at home. Special gas stations that already have this technology can do this a lot faster.
Maybe it will be less about one energy and more about picking the right energy for the right place. I just hope they drop the nuclear power plant idea, just dumping waste in a whole in the middle of nowhere just seems like a bad idea to me. 

At this point it would appear the only wind power is coming from speeches. Over the next 2 years I don't expect these companies to do well.  Most businesses are doing poorly. Oil is cheap and demand goes lower every week. The government can continue to fund research, but someone will have to buy the product.

You are right Lamp, alternatives energies seem to fade into the background once oil prices fall. And someone has to buy them for them to work. A civic, one of the few cars that run on natural gas cost 25,000, plus 3,000 for the fill unit...plus installation...plus there are less then a few thousand fill stations and most of them are in California and Utah.

SWN is a great stock.  I've been in it for awhile now and it has its ups and downs, but since President Obama is now in the white house, I expect big things for this one.   

eStomes – interesting mention of Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN). In addition to natural gas, are they involved in any other alternative energy areas?

idid – Yep, T. Boone Pickens is an interesting guy to follow. He built up a huge online presence to promote his "clean energy" future and certainly has a megaphone to get his views out in the mainstream media.

Thanks all for your ideas and suggestions about alternative energy!

- The TradeKing Blog

To me oil is the dinosaur and it is becoming more apparent that an oil based consumer society is not sustainable.  We will see a shift in our own energy consumption and hopefully a shift in the development of the infrastructures of the developing countries around the world.  This shift poses the biggest opportunity for growth.  When these countries gain the opportunity to invest in cheap clean energy, the industry will explode.  It's true that cost is a big barrier for some clean energy solutions, but the more and resources are devoted to developing these technologies, the cheaper they become.  Another interesting area is the technologies to clean existing sources of power i.e. coal.  There are P.A.D. (pulverized air dryer) scrubbers that can clean the coal before it enters burners which essentially limits pollution to just CO2.  They are extremely less expensive as well.  Retro fitting a coal fired power plant with mercury and sulfur scrubbers costs hundreds of millions of dollars.  A P.A.D. unit, only a few million.  Not hundreds of millions.  P.A.D. units also have many more applications, from agriculture to textile production.  Have faith in our ingenuity and have hope for future...there will be a wave to ride.  Check out nanosolar...exciting things going on with their company and technology...now if they just went public.  A couple interesting small cap/pennies, CGYV, GMTI, just to name a couple.  Also there are alternative energy funds out there if looking for more of an umbrella approach vs. microscope...TAN, GAAEX, KWT, PBD.  I think nanosolar has a great product and is poised to do the best...good for environment..bad for ROI in my portfolio because I can't invest in it....yet.