Old Tech for a New Year
While we like to believe that we, as a culture, have been progressing in a linear fashion, recent market trends point to a little technological regression. During the last week of 2007, we witnessed a surprising spike in stock investing for, of all things, coal. And no, it wasn’t all from Santa seeking stocking-filler for all of the naughty kids either.
With oil prices soaring and no immediate dip in sight, savvy investors are betting that the big returns will come from alternative energy sources. So far their hunch is proving correct as the Department of Energy has issued a statement claiming that they estimate at least 1,000 coal-fueled powerplants will be built globally over the next five years. Here in the United States over half of our electricity is still produced through coal burning.
Depite the fact that coal consumption does have environemntal impacts, this antiquated technology is looking more and more like a viable alternative to oil and natural gas as an energy source. The smart money for investors in 2008 is looking like energy sources.
