Our current energy problems and the rising prices of most raw materials have, like all issues, a bright and a darker side. A challenge can be an opportunity or a highway to financial ruin. If you don't like the ruin part and want to go for the opportunity part then investing in Green Energy is probably one of the best decisions you can make at the moment.

Investing or participating gives you the edge and makes you part of the solution

Clean Energy Investments are a possibility to both help solve this challenge and profit from it at the same time. I use investing here as a very broad term, including education, starting your own business, participating in the stock market and trading for example CO2 futures.

Research, research and more research

To be successful in understanding where this market is headed we will need to invest some time in research, see what is happening at the moment. And get a grasp on where we are heading.

The most promising or mainstream energy source will be....

There is no doubt about it, the renewable energy sector has a huge upside. But like the early days of the computer we still aren't sure where this road will lead us. One day the news focus is on hydrogen, the next day we are lead to believe that solar energy is going to be the best thing next to sliced bread. The investor, trader, business owner who stays on top of the developments in the clean energy sector will have an enormous advantage over the one that doesn't.

The search for energy alternatives that is presently going on makes that public attention constantly shifts and as a results most alternative energy stocks show a trend that resembles that of a drunken rollercoaster. Of course this opens an enormous opportunity for traders who profit from price swings, in fact its more like a potential gold mine.

Public Companies

A number of established companies are also entering this playing field and even the big oil and utility companies are very active. When they are public and traded you can often find them at NYSE. The more technical and younger players are to be found at the NASDAQ. And of course the over the counter (OTC) market is a place to look. All is possible there, good and bad. Interestingly enough we see a lot of entrepreneurs who got rich during the .com bubble become very active again and begin or finance new startups. A lot of interest we see in the hydrogen energy and hydrogen storage research.

For the person who likes to invest money but has a more risk avoiding strategy there are good green investment funds. I drew up an overview of the companies I keep a close eye on. This is a by no means a complete overview but a representation of the market players I find interesting. Use it as a starting point for further investigation in the renewable energy sector and its investment opportunities.

Never forget the risks involved in investing and trading. A loss is easily made so don't put you household money on the line.

Green Investment Funds

Name Ticker

Winslow Green Growth WGGFX

New Alternatives NALFX

Calvert Global Alternative CGAEX

Guinness Atkinson Alternative GAAEX

Solar Energy

SunPower Corporation SPWR

First Solar, Inc. FSLR

Hydrogen Energy

Ballard Power Systems BLDP

FuelCell Energy FCFL

Medis Technologies MDTL

Plug Power PLUG

Hydrogenics HYGS

Mechanical Technology MKTY

Distributed Energy Systems DESC

Wind Energy

American Superconductor AMSC

Zoltek Companies, Inc. ZOLT

Investing in green energy is not limited to putting money on the line, research interest and knowing about what is going on will probably take you a long way as well.