Industrial hybrids

Written By Jeff Siegel

Posted July 27, 2005

It’s no surprise that whenever news of depleted oil resources or record oil prices land headline real estate on Yahoo! News, inevitably a follow-up story will include some type of regurgitation (restructured, of course) of the latest on hybrid vehicles.

Though while the hammering away of this kind of hybrid marketing can only help support the automobile industry, another, perhaps even more crucial segment of the hybrid market remains practically invisible to the masses.

It’s old news, so I’ll spare you the rant on the ominous reality of insufficient oil supplies and rising distribution costs for, well…practically everything. But it is this very issue that has been the catalyst for increased industrial hybrid research and technology for the last ten years.

In fact, at least 2 to 3 times a week I get e-mails from a number of these companies alerting me to new contracts, new technologies and new grants that are pushing these industrial hybrid companies to levels many of their conventional counterparts haven’t seen in decades.

You can even search any news search engine and find all kinds of press releases relating to these segmented hybrid companies.

For example, yesterday, RailPower Technologies (P:TSX) signed a licensing agreement with Swedish Train Technology for the joint development of the very first international hybrid locomotive.

RailPower Technologies is the company behind the Green Goat Series hybrid locomotive conversions. A technology that transforms aging switchers (with their 150 plus year chassis lives) into modern hybrids, delivering 40-70% cuts in diesel fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.



And UQM Technologies (UQM:AMEX), a leading manufacturer of power dense, high efficiency electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers for industrial markets received an order on Monday for additional UQM permanent magnet motor and controller systems from Eaton Corporation’s (ETN:NYSE) Truck Components division. These systems will be integrated into Eaton’s hybrid electric propulsion systems for trucks and other heavy duty vehicles.



I’ll have more on both of these companies in the weeks to come. As well as another alternative energy company…a bio-fuel firm that’s already using its groundbreaking technology to not only create electricity – but clean up the environment as well.

The Sweet, Sweet Smell of Bovine Bio-fuel

This renewable energy technology company develops and deploys a highly-advanced system for the extraction of methane gas from animal wastes and other organic wastes, which is useful for electricity or thermal energy generation.

In fact, it currently owns the only fully-installed facility in the U.S. that utilizes this technology (a Danish technology that’s licensed exclusively to this company for deployment in North America) which is now projected to generate enough kilowatt hours to supply approximately 600 homes per year.

And that’s just the beginning.

In addition to alternative energy production, this technology is also being recognized as a solution to environmental and regulatory compliance issues related to animal waste disposal. It can actually help farmers reduce ground and surface water pollution and free up land for increased herd sizes.

Much of this technology is still in its earliest phases. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t some money to be made here. In fact, as energy demands continue to increase, and oil supplies continue to decrease, it’s these kinds of renewable energy technologies that’ll have the bottom feeders scavenging for leftovers and hiccups as early as this winter.

Of course there are those who are quick to disregard bio-fuel technology or any of the other alternative energy technologies that are now finding their way to Wall Street. Mostly citing the infancy of these technologies and limited track record validation of the renewable energies market.

If I remember correctly, this is the same argument I heard from a lot of those sour-faced types who used to write me letters on their Remington portable typewriters back in the 90s – arguing against the long-term profitability of internet media companies and online payment processing and security firms.

Until next time,

Jeff Siegel
Editor, Green Chip Stocks

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