| As you know, I spent a considerable amount of time | | | | War in Iraq) of securing our oil supply will force new |
| working in the alternative energy industry as an | | | | technologies into the market. |
| investment banker. I had the opportunity to look at | | | | So what's the problem? Well, how do we make all of |
| and analyze projects and look at new technologies | | | | the hydrogen we will eventually need? Again, another |
| that were so early stage that most experts had | | | | thing most people don't realize, hydrogen is currently |
| never heard of them. I also had the opportunity to | | | | made in mass quantities by using natural gas and oil. |
| learn and discuss many different opinions from | | | | Amazing isn't it? The one thing we want to rely upon |
| industry experts, academics, and some of the leading | | | | less, oil and gas, is precisely the substance we need |
| CEOs in the field. | | | | to convert to hydrogen to get away from oil and |
| All of this exposure not only taught me a great deal | | | | gas. So much for eliminating the influence of the |
| about the markets, the industry and new technology, | | | | Middle East! |
| but it also shaped my views on the energy industry | | | | There is a solution which is being adopted by many |
| as a whole. For better or worse I am biased towards | | | | emerging growth countries who are themselves |
| alternative energy. I have seen the pollution and | | | | afraid of Middle East oil dependency. They are turning |
| damage first hand that a fossil fuel based | | | | to nuclear energy, which is a relatively clean form of |
| infrastructure can cause. The good thing is that I | | | | energy production, and one that several people are |
| truly believe that eventually, in my lifetime, we will | | | | considering the next "green" energy supply. Now I |
| see a new energy infrastructure based on hydrogen, | | | | know nuclear has become a four letter word here in |
| which will be much more environmentally friendly and | | | | the US, especially after the Three-Mile Island incident, |
| most importantly economic. | | | | and Chernobyl. However, I believe that the future of |
| In my years in banking I learned that many little | | | | alternative energy, and global energy independence |
| things the experts take for granted about the | | | | lies in the use of uranium for power. |
| industry, most of the investing public has no | | | | Globally, the demands on the power infrastructure |
| knowledge about. One of the most interesting data | | | | are expected to double over the next few decades. |
| points I learned was that where we stand today, | | | | As we stand today, 31 new reactors are under |
| hydrogen can be used in a similar form to gasoline. | | | | construction, and many more are being considered. |
| The energy from its combustion can be used to | | | | Currently, nuclear energy supplies some 15% of the |
| power an automobile, with some slight modification. | | | | world's electric demands . . . and while other |
| Granted, the modification needed is expensive now, | | | | alternative sources like solar and wind are growing, |
| but no doubt it will come down in price in the future. | | | | nothing can deliver the same bang for the buck. |
| Clearly this is a natural stepping stone to a hydrogen | | | | New emerging world economies are being set up to |
| driven economy. | | | | run on nuclear, and it is being embraced by not only |
| Fuel cells, those great miracles of energy production, | | | | the governments but the people of these countries. |
| are hugely inefficient, expensive, and extremely | | | | It is a steady supply of cheap inexhaustible energy |
| fragile. It will be many years before they become | | | | that will drive their economies over the next several |
| widespread enough to materially impact the energy | | | | decades. |
| economy, but it is starting to happen. Now I know | | | | Only four companies in the world supply new nuclear |
| many of the environmentalists are standing up and | | | | facilities, and only a handful of countries have the |
| cheering . . . sit down. While I love the environment, I | | | | uranium deposits needed to run these reactors. The |
| think that a hydrogen economy makes sense - | | | | price of Uranium recently peaked on the world |
| Economic Sense. This is economic because with the | | | | market, and is still trading near record highs. The |
| price of Oil where it is - above $80, and the incidental | | | | nuclear revolution is coming . . . will you profit from it? |
| costs (but not insignificant - think the cost of the | | | | |