Regarding renewable energy as an investment category, would a large drop in oil prices

As you may know, subscribers to Cleantech are pro clean technologies, therefore likely to oppose any suggestion that the price of oil is a determinant of the advancement of clean technologies. Your results may have a bias as a result of this. However, it will be interesting to see what the minorities as a proportion to the majority is.

Brace yourself for a revolution in wind energy technology. It will become the cheapest source of electricity it is possible to generate. Fully 400,000 MW is feasible offshore from Maine to the Carolinas alone.

New concepts in gearless turbines can increase capacity factors to 50%, and a giant leap forward in low cost mooring techniques will install offshore wind power as cheaply as on land, and the nimby factor is minimal, if any, offshore.

Folks say only 20% of US capacity can be wind. Perhaps, but it’s likely to be far more. We will be charging EV’s all over America, which will store wind excess capacity as will the massive use of heat pump phase-change modules to storage heat energy to stay warm (most of wind energy occurs in winter, thank god). And Nissan’s CEO is right, GM’s is wrong, commuters will drive to work in low cost all-electric family vehicles, not expensive hybrids like VOLT. And EV’s will be far cheaper than public transportation could ever do it.

I’d guess there could be up to 500,000 of wind MW’s in net capacity installed in the U.S. (considering the feasible 50% capacity factor, 1,000,000 MW installed in nameplate). Wind power is just in the baby steps phase; it’s just getting stated.

This was such a tempting target for the audience. Much like asking if there will polar ice in 25 years. The optimist says we can achieve climate change reductions; the pessimist says we're all screwed; and the realist knows we've got to do everything regardless of being screwed. This brings to mind Amory Lovins' long ago quote on energy prices, opined in the era of scarcity: the cheapest barrel of oil is the one you don't buy. The truth is that efficiency is what we're investing in. Anyone who sees cheaper oil costs as a driver down doesn't understand efficiency as the real driver of clean tech. That also reflects the importance of taking carbon footprintinto account - something wise investors understand regardless of the price of energy. Intelligent investing consider inevitable energy price rises and invest for a future of efficiency.

Perhaps many of us, at least in the USA and Western Europe,can realisticly place National Security concerns at the top of the list.