Google's hit on some hard times recently. The search giant's stock bottomed out yesterday at $464.19, dropping 38 percent from a record high $747.24 in November 2007. The massive downturn's tipping point came recently, though the momentum has built up for months, from a comScore report that found the company's revenue generating paid clicks remained flat in January 2008 compared with January 2007, while suffering a 12 percent sequential drop. But minimal growth in its revenue model can't be the only thing dragging Google down. Where's all that cash going? Google, according to disgraced tech trader Henry Blodget, "is moving in a thousand different directions and spending money like a drunken sailor." Blodget should know about spending money like a drunken sailor, but this time his research is right on the money, so to speak.

Shares of EnerNOC are down 27.22 percent as of noon today after the company announced a $9 million earnings loss for the 4Q 2007. EnerNOC disappointed analysts, whose consensus $0.29 EPS loss was taken to town by the 'NOCs $0.48 EPS loss in the last quarter. The company posted $19.7 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, up 234 percent year over year. Revenues across 2007 were $60.8 million, up 133 percent from 2006. Despite a tough day on the street, EnerNOC had a relatively big year of organic growth. The company added 703 MW to it's energy management program, bringing its total up 1,113 MW. EnerNOC, a demand response firm, contracts with corporations to manage their energy consumption, bring power usage down during peak periods. All tolled the 'NOC controls the equivalent of two coal fired power plants, retrieving "negawatts" and spinning them into gold - well, maybe not last quarter. Anyway, I hear there might be some growth opportunities in Florida.

Florida Power & Light, proving yesterday they're not old enough to play with real toys, received a $2.5 million grant to build nine wind turbines on its property. Knowing the utility's track record with system failure, residents of South Florida might want to be on the lookout for something like this: We love a good mystery at GTM, and apparently so does the Miami New Times, which is reporting "Hugo Chavez cut the lights." Which makes perfect sense, since the heads at FP&L aren't nearly incompetent enough to have pulled this off alone.

No coffee edition. Dangerous. Me, uncaffeinated, with Jon Bonnano and Alla Weinstein from Principle Power

• The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a measure that curtails nearly $18 billion in tax incentives for oil and gas companies. If passed, oil and gas companies would pay as much as $17.56 billion in taxes over the next ten years. The windfall would fund production tax credits for wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower projects and investment tax credits for solar energy and fuel cells. The bill is expected to pass the House, and die a slow, painful death in the Senate.


• Now's the time to pick up an ethanol plant on the cheap. Bioenergy of America had its Chapter 11 case dismissed by a federal judge in New Jersey after the company was unable to pay administrative costs associated with the filing. Paragon Biofuels, always one to stab a brother in the back, withdrew it's $400,000 loan to Bioenergy at the same time. Bioenergy, much like the corn it used to process, is now headed into liquidation.


• Wednesday is officially goods-news-for-biofuel-day. Cargill has announced it will shelve a $200 million plant it had planned for Topeka, KA. The agro-giant, most famous for stuffing cows full of cement, cited rocketing corn prices and squeezing ethanol margins as primary reasons for its change of heart. Corns has traded north of $5 for the last few months, pushed up from under $2 on high ethanol demand from production plants.


• It's probably better we've only made a lame attempt at building an ethanol distribution infrastructure. Apparently "ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline ones and require a special type of firefighting foam". The groups and organizations listed as not having access to this foam include "many fire departments around the country". The foam itself only costs $90 to $115 for a five gallon container, so let's get three.


• And finally today... help us pick a design for the new GTM office.

Despite booking $11.3 billion in profit and $348.7 billion in revenue over 2007, Wal-Mart has decided investing in greentech isn't worth the pain. So today they've launched a "gateway between solution providers and Wal-Mart" for you - the solution provider - to tell Wal-Mart how to reduce it's carbon footprint. I wonder what PR wizard thought this up. Wal-Mart's "Cleantech Accelerator Project" is helpfully hosted by the Cleantech Group, who were more than willing to help Wal-Mart steal your ideas. But have no fear. Wal-Mart will soon pay the price as they are inundated with thousands of "innovative" ideas for composting, fart offsetting, and back to nature survivalism. Even Treehugger would be proud.

The Valley Transportation Authority's long, strange trip with hydrogen fuel cell buses looks like it could (should) crash. Three years ago the VTA dropped $18 million on the three buses, pushed by a state mandate requiring use of the consummate "five year technology". But a new VTA report out this week "raises troubling questions" about both the technology and cost of the program, according to Gary Richards from the San Jose Mercury News. The biggest troubling question? VTA's hydrogen buses cost $51.66 per mile for fuel, operation and maintenance, compared with $1.61 for the standard 40 foot diesel bus. Ouch. The $2.5 million hydrogen buses (diesel's cost around $400,000) also traveled an average of 1,100 miles between repairs, compared with 6,000 for standard diesels. Good thing they're not planning on refunding this progr... Oh. What's that?

I guess we don't need to ask what he was smoking...