The smart money's on green (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Mark Tutton
For CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Despite taking a beating from the credit crunch, the clean energy sector is being tipped as a golden opportunity for investors.

Governments around the world have set ambitious targets to cut CO2 emissions, but it's clear that if they are to meet those targets they will have to rely on the growth of alternative energy and the development of new technologies that promote energy efficiency.

The fundamental need for these kinds of technologies has meant that the clean energy sector has been one of the financial success stories of recent years. 2007 was a boom year with the alternative energy attracting $148 billion of new funding, up 60% on 2006, according to UK-based consultant New Energy Finance (NEF).

But since then the credit crunch has rattled the clean energy sector. The first quarter of 2008 saw the Wilderhill New Energy Global Innovation Index (NEX), which lists clean energy firms, tumble by 17.9%, nearly twice the loss suffered by the S&P500.

Worst hit has been the biofuels sector, which has been blamed for global food shortages and had its profits squeezed by high corn prices. U.S. biofuel firms VeraSun and Aventine Renewable Energy are down 61% and 52% respectively on last year. Hydrogen cell shares have also suffered.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/08/green.investing/index.html

[Nederland]

1. A friend of mine put money in a green mutual fund ten years back

she did REALLY well...