Alternative Energy Power Sources For Transportation: Who Will Be The Winners?

• On 10:38 am EDT, Wednesday October 7, 2009

67 WALL STREET, New York - October 7, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has recently published its Alternative Energy/Clean Energy/Power Generation/Utilities Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 83 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Long Term Perspective on Alternative Energy Industry -- Leading Indicators for Alternative Energy Components Companies -- Mergers and Acquisitions in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Break Even Business Fundamentals for Carbon Free Energy Providers -- Development of Carbon Free Energy Production Infrastructure -- NAT GAS Act -- New Players in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Solar Power Cell Manufacturers Market Strategy -- Demand Response for Raw Materials for Solar Cell Production -- Alternative Energy Investment Opportunities -- Multiple Stock Winners in Carbon Free Production Industry -- Government Funding of Alternative Energy Power Providers -- Chinese Solar Energy Companies -- Alternative Energy Hedge Fund Investors -- Commodity Cycles -- Determinants of Market Valuations in the Alternative Energy Production Industry -- Carbon Emissions Statistics -- Energy Efficiency Statistics -- Innovations in Solar and Wind Power Generation -- Business Economics for Methane Based Power Generation -- Electric Vehicles Projections and Statistics-- Cap and Trade Projections and Statistics -- Development of Battery Technology -- Regulatory Environment Developments for Solar, Wind, and Alternative Energy -- Hybrid Vehicles Development and Sales Projections

Companies include: Tanfield (TAN.L); Smith Electric Vehicles U.S.; Valence (VLNC); Spire (SPIR); Newport (NEWP); MYR Group (MYRG); Primoris (PRIM); Tetra Tech (TTEK); EnerNOC (ENOC); Comverge (COMV); EnergyConnect (ECNG.OB); Calgon Carbon (CCC); and Ener1 (HEV); Westport Innovations (WPRT); Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE); Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS); FuelCell Energy (FCEL); FEI Company (FEIC); Veeco (VECO); ATT (T); Landi Renzo (LR.MI); Teleflex (TFX); Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A); Wal-Mart (WMT); Pepsico (PEP); FuelMaker; Chevrolet; GM; Honda (HMC); Itron (ITRI); Siemens (SI); American Superconductor (AMSC); GE (GE); and ABB (ABB);

In the following brief excerpt from just one of the 23 interviews in the 83 page report, alternative energy industry experts discuss the outlook for the sector and for investors.

Edward A. Einboden is a Senior Research Analyst with Wm Smith Special Opportunities Research Company, an affiliate of Wm Smith & Co. He has been with the firm since 2007 and covers alternative energy, retail and manufacturing. Mr. Einboden previously worked as a Research Associate at RBC Capital Markets and as a Research Assistant at OppenheimerFunds. He has a B.S. degree in finance from the Monfort College of Business, University of Northern Colorado, and is a member of the CFA Society of Colorado.

Robert Young is a Research Analyst with Wm Smith Special Opportunities Research Company, an affiliate of Wm Smith & Co. He has been with the firm since 2007 and covers alternative energy, consulting, infrastructure, paper products and metals. Mr. Young was previously a Consultant for FTI Consulting, where he worked on bankruptcy litigation, M&A and performance improvement engagements. Mr. Young has a bachelor's degree in finance with a minor in accounting and an MBA from the University of Denver.

TWST: What level of near- and long-term growth do both of you see in the alternative transportation sector?

Mr. Einboden: Near term, I think the industry is getting a handle on what are the opportunities and what the technology has in store for it. I think on the consumer side, we are dealing with Detroit and a lot of automakers that need to re-look at the industry itself. I think they are doing a good job of trying to address those issues, trying to see the larger picture of what they can do, and re-think ways to manufacture and achieve the opportunities that they have. In the near term, dealing with the financial ramifications of that previous industry structure grew challenging and, therefore, it's been difficult for consumers to have the confidence in order to adopt and difficult for companies to address that situation. Longer term, I think the inevitable progression that we will see relates to the impact on the environment and increasing efficiencies that we are seeing. Whether it is batteries, engines or the drivetrains, there is a lot of innovation going on. It's been a very long time and we need to address what constitutes innovation in this industry versus merely body types or fuel mileage, and that is something that we're addressing now. So I think near term, those are the challenges. More near term from the investor side, I think people should be looking at the commercial market. One of the companies that we follow, Tanfield along with Smith Electric Vehicles U.S., who is the joint venture here in the United States, I think makes a lot of sense because it deals with a consumer or a customer that has deeper pockets. These companies - a lot of times management embraces new technology and seeks better ways to do things. They also understand logistically how to implement certain changes into their delivery systems, into their cost structure, into their routes and things. So from a financial side, there have been a lot of incentives put into place; they have the ability to purchase products and there is a big push for this, including the U.K., which by the way I think is an under-observed market out there. Looking from that side of spectrum, the end of July's announcement between Smith Electric and companies like Coca-Cola, Staples and Pacific Gas & Electric, Frito-Lay, AT&T and Kansas City Southern, which was made in Washington, D.C., and was a positive. I think those are the type of announcements people should be looking at and saying that these are the type of customers that will be buying in the near term, whereas on the consumer side we're still needing to adopt and obtain a level of comfort on the level of adoption that we will see. Longer term, I think they're both very viable solutions. People are putting maybe a little bit more emphasis on the consumer market, which happens to be a couple of years out and not looking at the very important commercial market, which makes a lot of sense from a logistical, financial and overall use standpoint. I think that that's something that people should look at.

TWST: Geographically, where do you see the greatest potential for alternative transportation companies to grow customer bases?

Mr. Einboden: I think the more populated areas makes sense, especially when we're talking about limited range or a particular range that they must have to address because of the amount of battery packs they're putting in the vehicle. On the commercial side of things, they can achieve a certain amount of range by just putting an infinite amount of batteries in there. But I think in order to make it cost-effective, you have a certain amount of a limited range over the near term. More populous areas would make sense, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, some of these areas. And also areas where the local and state governments are embracing the technology. California is very progressive in that New York and Mayor Bloomberg has been exceptionally progressive in what he views as being an important push forward for electric vehicles, and it makes logistic sense. To that degree, on the commercial side it makes complete sense to those companies that address these situations. Those companies are going to look at their markets, and they're going to understand how to implement the vehicles. It's not a question as to what makes sense per se, as far as where they would like to have them. They will implement the vehicles where it makes sense from a financial and practical standpoint, which I think is the important point on the commercial side. On the consumer side, you're probably dealing with people who have an area where they don't commute as far, and they will view this as an everyday short-distance vehicle where they can run errands and things. Going back to the commercial side, I think you can just look to some of the companies like FedEx and Coca-Cola, and the other companies I mentioned earlier. These companies are addressing this internally and saying, "What makes more practical sense?" Because at the end of the day, it's going to be how effective their business is. And these people who were making the decisions, including logistics people, are the best in their business. I definitely leave that to them to decide, and I think that's an important issue.

The Wall Street Transcript is a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This 83 page special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online .

The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewees nor does it make stock recommendations.

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