Replies to post #394 on Alternative Energy

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President Bush Views Plug Power GenCore(R) Fuel Cell System on Display at 3M Headquarters

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060202/nyth180.html?.v=26

President Bush Views Plug Power GenCore(R) Fuel Cell System on Display at 3M Headquarters

Thursday February 2, 3:42 pm ET

Visit Follows on the Heels of President's Advanced Energy Initiative Announced in 2006 State of The Union Address

LATHAM, N.Y., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- President George W. Bush today viewed a display featuring Plug Power's GenCore® fuel cell system while touring the 3M headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. The president's visit occurred two days after his State of the Union address calling for a 22 percent increase in clean-energy research and a 75 percent reduction of oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

"This was a great opportunity for President Bush to see first hand how fuel cell power systems are used in stationary applications today," said Greg Silvestri, Chief Operating Officer of Plug Power. "Fuel cell manufacturers and supply chain partners like 3M are providing the foundation needed to advance the development of fuel cell systems now and in the future."

3M and Plug Power have been working together since 2002. 3M provides Plug Power with the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which is a key component used in the Company's 5kW hydrogen-fueled backup power system -- GenCore.

The two companies are also teamed in an ongoing project with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a high durability membrane electrode assembly for the fuel cell stack. Further, Plug Power is nearing completion of a project for the DOE to develop and demonstrate a next-generation backup power system that incorporates improvements made in the MEA and other essential components. The DOE provided funding for Plug Power's work through several previously awarded programs totaling $12.5M.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG - News) is an established leader in the deployment of clean, reliable, on-site energy products. More than 600 Plug Power fuel cell systems have been delivered to customers worldwide in commercial, public sector, telecommunications, utility and uninterruptible power supply markets. For more information about how you can join Plug Power's energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit http://www.plugpower.com.

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Alternative Energy Daily update:

15 up
19 down
3 unchanged

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Awesome link to see COMMODITY prices throughout the trading day. Refresh to update. Might be delayed a bit.

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/cfutures.html


• SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Price: 19.150 Change: 0.860
• COTTON NO.2 FUTR Price: 57.230 Change: 1.360
• LME ALUM HG FUTUR
• HEATING OIL FUTR Price: 178.740 Change: 1.660
• WHEAT FUTURE(CBT)
• COFFEE 'C' FUTURE
• CRUDE OIL FUTR Price: 65.070 Change: 0.390
• CORN FUTURE
• GASOLINE NY UNLD Price: 167.300 Change: 0.740
• SOYBEAN FUTURE
• GOLD 100 OZ FUTR
• NATURAL GAS FUTR Price: 8.340 Change: -0.007
• COPPER FUTURE
• SILVER FUTURE
• LME NICKEL FUTURE
• LIVE CATTLE FUTR
• COCOA FUTURE
• FCOJ-A FUTURE
• LEAN HOGS FUTURE

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Alternate-Energy Succumbs to Profit-Taking

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060201/alternative_energy_mover.html?.v=1

Wednesday February 1, 2:20 pm ET
Alternative Energy Stocks Tumble As Traders Take Profits After Run-Up to President Bush's Speech

NEW YORK (AP) -- Traders cashed out of alternative energy stocks on Wednesday -- a day after shares surged in expectation that President Bush would outline a heavy-spending plan in his State of the Union address.

Bush gave investors what they wanted, promising a 22 percent increase in research funding for cleaner energies.

In his address Tuesday night, Bush introduced an "Advanced Energy Initiative." The program calls for $289 million in additional financing for hydrogen fuel, $281 million for clean coal technologies, $150 million for cellulose-based ethanol and $148 million for solar energy in the fiscal 2007 budget. The plan also earmarks a smaller amount for wind energy research and advanced automotive batteries.

"It's a little bit of 'buy on the rumor, sell on the news,'" said John Quealy, an analyst with investment bank Canaccord Adams. "Trading-oriented folks are taking profits."

Although Quealy advocates investors have some exposure to alternative energy stocks based on the industry's growth prospects, he cautions against the risks. Many of the companies are young and unprofitable with stocks that tend toward volatility, he said.

A nascent company called Pacific Ethanol Inc. is somewhat emblematic of the sector.

Shares of Pacific Ethanol slid $2.44, or 12.9 percent, to $16.39 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, a day after the stock climbed to a 52-week high of $19.14. Trading volume surged to 3.3 million versus a daily average of about 337,000.

Pacific Ethanol doesn't produce ethanol yet, however the company has plans to construct five corn-based ethanol production plants by 2008. Chief Executive Neil Koehler said he expects the company's ethanol business to turn its first profit in the fourth quarter of 2006, when the first plant is scheduled to start operations.

When the five plants are running, Pacific Ethanol will have the capacity to churn out 200 million gallons of ethanol per year. The market currently produces some 4 billion gallons annually.

"The ethanol business is a very profitable business today, and we expect to see good margins with the initiation of our ethanol production," Koehler said.

Pacific Ethanol shares are up 51.5 percent since Jan. 1.

Elsewhere, Archer Daniels Midland Co., an oilseeds processor that has been ramping up its ethanol production, saw its shares shed $1.09, or 3.5 percent, to $30.41. The stock reached a fresh 52-week peak of $32.22 on Tuesday.

The proposed government investment doesn't amount to much when scaled against the billions the government spends elsewhere. However, relative to what has been spent in the past, the funding is promising, Quealy said.

While $150 million is a drop in bucket for the government, "$150M focused specifically on solar materials is quite large," he said. "There was a little bit of investor anticipation and letdown in terms of magnitude of dollars. But take a step back, and it still is very positive."

In the solar sector, shares of Evergreen Solar Inc. dropped 43 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $15.00; shares of Sunpower Corp. fell 35 cents to $39.65 and shares of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. slipped 36 cents to $50 on the Nasdaq. All three stocks had climbed sharply over the past few days, with Evergreen and Sunpower hitting 52-week highs on Tuesday.

In the hydrogen fuel cell sector, shares Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. fell 29 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $4.71 on the Nasdaq.