Offshore Nambia is quickly becoming one of the world’s greatest frontier oil provinces.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, a few major companies took out oil exploration concessions there from the government of South Africa. In 1974, Shell (NYSE: RDS.A / RDS.B) discovered a gas field off the southwest coast with the Kudu project. Early estimates were 1 trillion cubic feet of reserves, but current estimates range up to 10 trillion. Kudu was big, but nobody much cared about natural gas back then. Gas was too cheap, and southern Africa was too far away.

There was hardly any development around Kudu for the next 20 years. South Africa was under international sanctions due to its apartheid regime, so oil companies and other outside investment stayed away. Almost nothing happened with energy development until Namibia became independent in 1990.

By the early 1990s, the gas field at Kudu intrigued foreign oil companies.

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China is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy One firm has already built China’s largest wind turbine manufacturing factory. And it’s working with the Chinese Science Academy to develop new wind, solar, and geothermal technologies… for which it will own 70% of the rights. But this company’s business reaches far beyond the Chinese border, with operations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. It’s first quarter net income increased by 294% over a year ago. Click here for the full report.

If NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) were an athletic prospect, scouts would rate it as a “triple threat.” That’s because the Princeton-based wholesale power generator is involved in all three of the key energy sources of the future: Solar, wind and nuclear.

And that’s only part of the reason I like this stock.

Growing profit margins and earnings momentum add to the energy company’s appeal – …

Brazil is making a national commitment to develop energy resources located far offshore in the South Atlantic. Indeed, no nation has ever advanced such an ambitious plan for long-term comprehensive offshore development. And it’s being bankrolled by China.

Much of Brazil’s South Atlantic development will require drilling wells in waters up to two miles deep, through four-five miles of rock beneath the seabed. The prize at the end will be oil deposits with reserves estimated in the tens of billions of barrels. With access to this offshore bounty, Brazil expects to take its place among the first ranks of energy-producing nations in the world.

Brazil’s state-controlled national oil company (NOC), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE:PBR) plans to spend over $175 billion in the next five years just on offshore development. The immense investment involves buying and building dozens of new drill ships and seagoing platforms, along with many dozens more support and

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Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc., a company focused on helping redeploy a portion of the U.S. workforce while reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, announced that it has entered a supply contract with Suntech America whereby Suntech will serve as the sole supplier of solar electric generation equipment for a 1+ MW installation.

“We are extremely pleased to have chosen Suntech America to be the provider of solar panels for our first municipal contract,” stated, Mr. David Fann, Chief Executive Officer of Solar Energy Initiatives. “This agreement validates Solar Energy Initiative’s position within the rapidly growing solar energy market and our ability to attract the top panel providers in the world. We believe that President Obama’s recent promise to earmark $467 million in stimulus funds exclusively for solar energy development coupled with our recent influx of contracts and newly formed relationships leave us well positioned to increase our market share

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As you’ve likely heard, a Chinese company will soon own the Hummer brand. Heh, let’s count the ways this transaction epitomizes the new economic landscape…

1. A Chinese company now owns an automaker that will build and sell cars in the U.S. – a first.

2. That company – Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery – doesn’t even make cars. For its first foray into passenger automaking, it’s chosen Hummer, perhaps the world’s most challenging and polarizing brand.

3. Business is so booming at Tengzhong HIM (its core is road construction and energy equipment) that the company will completely self-finance the deal…not one yuan borrowed from the Chinese government.

4. While neither party will disclose the price, Hummer was likely sold for a song…less than $500 million.

5. The White House is billing it as a victory: It’s “good news for the 3,000 Americans who will be able to keep their jobs, the two American plants

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Louis Basenese is one of the smartest investment analysts I know, and a good friend of mine to boot. And most of the time I agree with his research - and his conclusions. Just not this time.

You see, this past Tuesday, his Investment U article caught my attention. In case you missed it, it was written about green energy. In it, Louis makes an argument for a “green energy super-bubble” that could burst in as little as two or three years, leaving unwary alternative energy investors in the lurch.

In his article, he cites four conditions that exist that make alternative energy ripe for a bubble. Those conditions may indeed be forming, but in and of themselves won’t cause a “speculative bubble.” In this case, there’s definitely more to the story.

The Defense of Alternative Energy & Green Investing

Louis: “The legislation is in place, and more

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Alternative Energy: Why You Can’t Ignore “Green” Investing

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

Louis Basenese is one of the smartest investment analysts I know, and a good friend of mine to boot. And most of the time I agree with his research - and his conclusions.

Just not this time.

You see, this past Tuesday, his Investment U article caught my attention. In case you missed it, it was written about green energy. In it, Louis makes an argument for a “green energy super-bubble” that could burst in as little as two or three years, leaving unwary alternative energy investors in the lurch.

In his article, he cites four conditions that exist that make alternative energy ripe for a bubble. Those conditions may indeed be forming, but in and of themselves won’t cause a “speculative bubble.” In this case, there’s definitely more to the story.

The Defense of Alternative Energy &

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January 14, 2009 ndash; Yesterday Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduced S. 222 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the national limitation on qualified energy conservation bonds and to clarify that certain programs constitute a qualified conservation purpose, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance. We expect to see further legislation supporting energy efficiency and alternative energy development. Here is the text from Feingoldrsquo;s comments on the floor:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, over the past few days I have introduced a series of bills that are part of my E4 Initiative, dubbed E4 because of its focus on economy, employment, education, and energy. Today I am introducing two bills that are part of this effort: the Community Revitalization Energy Conservation, CREC, Act of 2009 and the Energy and Technology Advancement, ETA, Act of 2009.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The newest among my E4 bills is the Community Revitalization Energy Conservation, CREC, ...

With the price of oil plummeting nearly $100 a barrel since July, people have something to feel good about during this difficult economic time period; however, it may lead to the dismissal of the peak oil theory. For those not familiar with peak oil, it is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached. After this point in time, the rate of production begins to steadily decline.

With the relatively cheap oil prices, the cost of bringing new oil into production is too expensive. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) has repeatedly warned for more than a year, excessively low prices will discourage investment in production, especially with the steadily rising costs of extracting and processing oil from increasingly difficult places. This lack of sufficient investment has serious consequences for the future supply once the global economy recovers from its current

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Yesterday’s assurance by General Electric (NYSE:GE) that it will maintain its dividend next year is a big buy signal says Andrew Snyder. The mega-conglomerate is one of America’s finest, and it will see its way through this recession. Better still: investors can lock in to this stable income stream at dirt cheap prices today.

This from Today’s Financial News:

Income investors have little to cheer about these days, with profits plunging and dividends getting slashed, but there are some glimmers of hope.

When a long-term stalwart Blue Chip like General Electric (NYSE:GE) steps out its corporate front door and tells investors to plan on their dividend payments throughout the next year, investors pay attention. When that $0.31 per quarter dividend leads to a yield of over 10%, smart investors call their brokers and grab some shares.

Instead of seeing their holding increase in value today, GE shareholders are seeing a 7%

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