Green Investing – Going Green Is Profitable

Green investing is a fast growing financial investment area.

Why? Because investing in socially and environmentally responsible products and services is essential for a flourishing future – beyond the current doom and gloom. There is no choice anyway. And, yes DIY green investment is within your grasp too...

The Me Me Me Industrial Age is over. The Us Us Us Being Age is on your doorstep. Go with the flow or flounder in it.

What do I mean with the Being Age? In a nutshell, it involves being aware of ourselves as directly connected to a whole. Having the greater interest at heart will deliver great personal benefits, not the other way around, as in the Industrial Age.

What is green investing? Green investing is about much more than investing your money in a solar panel manufacturing company for a great financial return.

One definition is

"The choosing of investments of companies that have a positive environmental record. Green investing is a special category of social investing." (The Free Dictionary)

"Social responsible investing" (SRI) is wider and includes avoiding exploitative employment practices and products considered harmful to human health.

To me, these are part of green investing as it is the same mindset that sees the environment as an inalienable part of us that sees others as part of us too.

So, green investing is really about seeing the world and ourselves in an interdependent light. Forget about blue chips.

Think green chip stocks... And carbon credit trading...And help is available to get you on your way...

Financial benefits of green investing

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Show you the money?

First, you might like to watch this video on a Google/GE sponsored conference, discussing the multi-billion dollar US Smart Grid initiative here:


There are great financial benefits to well-conceived green projects and therefore to those that invest in alternative energy stocks.

For example, one report found that an up-front investment of less than 2% in the building of "green buildings" yields savings of ten times as much over the life of that building.

Such savings include:

  • lower energy,
  • waste disposal,
  • water costs,
  • lower environmental and emissions costs,
  • lower operations and maintenance costs,
  • and savings from increased productivity and health.

In 2009 green investing is still in its infancy, but is already worth, in 2009, some US$227 Billion. SRI has been assessed as worth some $2.71 Trillion, 10% of all investment, having grown by 300% since 1995.

Now governments are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulating their economies. In the US alone, more than $80 billion in spending and tax cuts will benefit the renewable domestic energy, an improved electricity grid, energy research and programs to reduce the use of fossil fuels, including weatherizing homes and federal buildings.

The car industry will benefit from a $7,500 tax credit for plug-in hybrid vehicle buyers and funding for advanced battery technology.

In 2009 Now alternative energy incentives, renewable energy grants, rebates and carbon credits are a ballooning indicator of the need and demand for green investing.

All of this could create some 1.7 million "green jobs."

The green investing industry is lifted by the newest and most influential market in the world. , called LOHAS LOHAS. It's a market that's here to stay. It includes alternative energy, clean water, organic produce and health and wellness.

The LOHAS market has actually defied the 2009 economic downturn and has outperformed” by up to 15% their non-LOHAS peers in their industry.

Greenchips report that nearly every new LOHAS stock within the last 5 years has doubled, tripled, even quadrupled. They expect the next generation of LOHAS companies to show double-digit growth.

Then there's energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its World Energy Outlook On November 12, 2008. There is no more authoritive source of global energy trends, providing forecasts to 2030.

It states that renewable energy will soon become the second largest source of electricity. Why? Well, there's this niggly thing called global warming that doesn't like global warming.

But it's economic considerations that speak loudest to governments and investors... the IEA has officially confirmed that every fossil fuel resource that we rely on today will simply not be able to keep pace with demand.

Consider some of these facts from its report. Going green has the future:

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  • There are only 100 years of remaining coal reserves at current demand levels. And demand is growing.
  • The world will hit a short natural gas plateau by 2020. By around 2025 it will go into decline.
  • We now find one barrel of conventional oil for every 4 we consume while oil fields are declining.
  • There isn't enough uranium being mined to fuel the hundreds of new nuclear fuel reactors that might fill the gap. If there were, long construction times and dearth of skilled nuclear workers are real obstacles.

Gloomy! But renewable energy is a realistic replacement. Consider these facts:

  • Solar energy. An area of land measuring about 92 miles X 92 miles, covered with solar power equipment, could meet all of the US's energy needs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The global solar photovoltaics industry grew from 1,762 MW in 2001 to 9,100 MW in 2007. 2009 is set for greater growth, especially in the US and Spain.
  • Wind energy. The DOE believes that wind power could generate some 5,8000 quads of energy annually. That represents 15 times current global energy demand. The wind industry grew by 26.6% in 2007. In 2008, the total global installed capacity represents more than 100 GW. It is expected to be 240 GW in just three years.
  • Geothermal energy. Its potential is great. In 2008, the Bureau of Land Management auctioned off about 106,000 acres of geothermal properties in the western part of the U.S . And according to M.I.T., there are over 100 million quads of accessible geothermal energy worldwide. The world only consumes about 400 quads.
  • Wave and tidal energy. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates wave energy along the U.S. coastline at 2,100 Twh per year. That's half the total U.S. consumption of electricity. Wave and tidal power have had their problems and only a few systems are in operation. New developments, particularly of below-surface ocean-floor anchored systems are promising.
  • Transport innovation. The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security says that if all cars on the road were hybrids, and half were Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles by 2025 – U.S. oil imports would be reduced by 8 million barrels per day. That represents about 80% of our daily consumption!
  • Re-forestation Whereas forests are not really a renewable energy source in today's world, forests need to be replanted to be natural carbon sinks and restore some balance to the Earth's ecology. Governments will increasingly offer tax breaks and incentives in plantation wood.

Other green investments

Go West young man, go West, was the foundation of much of the US's wealth.

Now it's: Go green, global human being, go green!

Investment means putting a piece of your wealth, or of yourself, into the service of another good, for returns to you.

You don't always need to think money and share markets though. You can make investments in trying to live a more energy-efficient, non-polluting, low carbon footprint life.

Either right where you are or perhaps in so-called ecovillages. Here are some examples:

Anastasia Village project in The Netherlands ; Somerville Ecovillage in Chidlow, Australia ; and the Ecovillage at Ithaca, NY, USA.

How To Get Into Green Investing Yourself

If you are an investor already, you will know what to do. How to find investment opportunities, assessing a listed company's worth and outlook, developing a strategy, when to buy or sell.

But if you're new and you want to build a portfolio in the LOHAS and renewable energy areas, you might look at specifically green managed funds or get advice from green investment experts to do it yourself.

OK, do it yourself? With some help?

OK, this is a bit different - AND taking advantage of higher energy prices, in the transition from fossil to renewable energy: Carbonventures!Carbonventures shows you, step-by-step, how to become a carbon credit (CFI's) and renewable energy credit (REC's) broker... A lot of money is going to be made here, starting right now!

Carbonventures lets you try their program for two months and return your purchase price of this system if you don't like it.

Stay tuned for more information on green investing here We are now building a large database for you, reporting on the various green investment advice, training and newsletter services out there. See you soon.

More on renewable energy grants here

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