• LDK Solar's earnings moved up 18 percent from 3Q to 4Q in 2007, with sales nearly tripling in that time year over year. The solar company reported they locked in nine long-term wafer supply contracts in the final quarter of 2007. In a striking sign of the effect the poly shortage is having on producers, LDK's margins moved down from 42.9 percent to 30.1 percent. This figure may bounce when LDK's new poly plant comes online next year.


• Having run out of non-performing PPAs to swoop up, PG&E has decided to take a page out of Treehugger's playbook (I know - it hurts on the inside). The California utility will buy 214,000 CO2-derived emissions credits, worth about $2 million annually, to offset 1 percent of the company's yearly emissions. The credits will come mostly from a 23,780 acre forest in Mendocino County, CA to be guarded by Conservation Fund stormtroopers. None Shall Pass


• Greek Environment Minister George Souflias approved the country's National Allocation Plan for Emissions Trading in 2008-2012 today. The plan calls for a 16.6 percent emissions reduction among 152 enterprises, including 33 power plants, 14 paper factories, 4 gyro huts, and a baklava. The aggressive target is a boon for Greece's solar industry, which is on track to build 700 MW in capacity by 2020, up from 6 MW in late 2007. A 40-45 eurocent/kWh feed-in tariff was set in 2006 to help the industry develop.


• California has 835 alternative fuel stations, of which 379 are for electricity, 215 are for liquefied petroleum gas, and 174 are for compress natural gas. On the other side of that list, the state has seven E85 ethanol stations, only three of which are available to the public. Despite the California Air Resources Board setting aside a few million dollars to expand this number to 34, it will probably never happen. And I laugh and laugh and laugh.


• And finally today... Greenpeace messes up their protest schedule.

CERA's Daniel Yergin has come out swinging in favor of tougher emissions mandates and stronger government support for renewable energy. Speaking at the 2008 National Governors Association Winter Meeting Yergin said "all participants in the global energy business, from traditional firms such as electric power companies and oil and gas companies to new entrants" are playing a role in shaping the greentech field. What is left, according to Yergin, is for governments to get behind these efforts, a move that will bring in the bigger players. But we can really rely on the big guns to boost greentech even with government mandates?

Hoku Scientific has set the wheels in motion to raise $25 million through the private placement of 2.9 million shares of common stock. Suntech Power will contribute $20 million to the deal, which is aimed at financing construction for Hoku's planned poly plant in Idaho. Dustin Shindo, Hoku's CEO, commented that the "equity financing is a significant step forward to obtain our larger debt financing," which Merrill Lynch will kick in provided Hoku comes up with $35 million in equity. So... Hoku has only raised $10 million in equity so far? Shindo has set out supply agreements with Suntech and Sanyo, while relying on upfront cash from both companies to finance plant construction.

Jon Bonnano has gone up the creek without a paddle. In November the former greentech lead at the Keiretsu Forum announced he was leaving his post to found Principle Power, an independent renewable power provider. Bonnano was halfway through raising his first $1.5 million when he announced the company's first project - a series of nine small hydro plants on the McKenzie River in Oregon. In committing to this project, Bonnano placed himself squarely in the Khosla school of greentech, arguing "if we cannot beat the true cost of burning wood, coal, or dung, which includes their emissions costs and without subsidies, we have lost." But Joe Bonnano would have more than flaming bags of dog poo to contend with...

• TRUenergy, an Australian subsidiary of Hong Kong's CLP Holdings Ltd., announced this morning it will build a 154 MW solar plant in Victoria, Australia. The company, which just picked up a 20 percent stake in concentrated PV firm Solar Systems, plans a A$7 million initial cost for the 7 MW pilot plant, and an additional A$285 million to develop the rest of the capacity using Solar Systems's technology. Construction on the plant should kick off in 2009, as soon as Solar Systems receives its next shipment of convict-workers for the island penal colony.


• Richard Branson ... blah blah blah ... 20 percent biofuel ... blah blah blah ... one engine ... blah blah blah ... a three hour flight ... blah blah blah ... Imperium ... blah bla... wait? Imperium is still a company? And speaking of still a company, doesn't the the fact that Virgin's biofuel powered (kind of) flight lasted three hours make you want to sing the Gilligan's Island song?


• Australian carbon broker Greenair Ltd. will attempt to raise A$100 million ahead of an IPO during the next 12 months. Australia, which ratified Kyoto in December following John Howard's embarrassing electoral loss to Kevin Rudd, a known lover of animals and children, is set to become an active carbon market sometime in the next two or three years. Greenair founder Himansha Dua will sell up to 20 percent of his stake in the company before the IPO in a bid to value the company at between A$430 million and A$520 million. Sadly the announcement comes to late to halt the clearcutting of Billongamick. Carbon trading comes too late for one Australian


• And finally today... "the road to hell may be paved with green intentions."

Our weekly list of greentech events in the New England (but most definitely expanding beyond) area. If you have an event to list for next week, e-mail me at englander at greentechmedia dot com. Otherwise, stay on the line and your call will be answered by our next available agent. February 24

• Lester Brown, President, Earth Policy Institute, 7:30 p.m. @ Cary Memorial Hall, 1605 Mass Ave., Lexington, MA

February 25

• Cleantech Forum XVI, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. @ Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA

February 26

• Energy Supply and Demand, Economics, and Greenhouse Gas Management, Carl O. Bauer, DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. @ MIT E40-496, Cambridge, MA
• Technical, Political, and Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities for the Domestic Energy Economy, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. @ George Sherman Union Auditorium, Boston University, 775 Commonwealth Ave., Rm. 228, Boston, MA
• MIT Energy Club Lecture Series: Prof. John Hewood, MIT Sloan Auto Lab - More Sustainable Transportation, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. @ MIT E51-145, Cambridge, MA
• Cleantech Forum XVI, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. @ Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
• Dow Jones VentureOne Summit 2008, 7:30 a.m. - 5:40 p.m. @ Sofitel San Francisco Bay, Redwood City, CA
• Carbon Forum America, 8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. @ The Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA

February 27

• MIT & Harvard Energy Clubs Joint Social, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. @ Asgard Irish Pub, 350 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA
• Carbon Forum America, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. @ The Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
• Dow Jones VentureOne Summit 2008, 7:45 a.m. - 2:10 p.m. @ Sofitel San Francisco Bay, Redwood City, CA
• Cleantech Forum XVI, 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. @ Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, MA

February 28

• Environmental Business Council International Committee Meeting, 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. @ Tech Environmental Offices at Reservoir Place, Sippican Room, 1601 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, MA
• Brown Enterprise Forum 2008 Green Technology Conference, 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. @ Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI
• High Energy Flywheels for Grid Frequency Regulation, Matt Lazarewicz, Beacon Power, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. @ MIT 32-155, Cambridge, MA
• Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum (plus launching of the New England Marine Renewable Energy Consortium), 5:00 p.m. @ UMASS Advanced Technology and Manufacturing center, 151 Martine St., Fall River, MA

February 29

• Environmental Business Council Seminar: Focusing on Solutions to Climate Change in New England, 7:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. @ Doubletree Hotel, 5400 Computer Dr., Westborough, MA

Just kidding. I'll never like ethanol. But Raul Castro does. Earlier this week Fidel resigned as Cuba's president, bringing an end to the Cold War and the return of peace on ear... wait, nevermind. With his retirement comes the opportunity for Cuba to bolster its economy through the production and export of sugarcane ethanol. The Communist holdout has worked in secret for a few years to upgrade it's ethanol production infrastructure, building as many as 17 ethanol refineries. Analysts estimate Cuba could produce between 2 billion and 3.2 billion gallons of ethanol a year, putting it third behind the U.S. and Brazil in global production. Now that Fidel's more outward looking brother Raul is calling the shots, it's possible we can expect a small wave of foreign investment into the country. Years of embargo have left the country's production infrastructure in a state of disrepair, and as any economist from the IMF circa 1995 will tell you, FDI is the cure for this particular kind of cold. However, with the embargo still in place, don't expect any of Cuba's sugary goodness to flow into the U.S. Ethanol export is expected to net about $7 billion annually for Cuba, more than enough for the country to hold its own for another 50 years. Finding open paths in global export markets is probably the next step. Though this isn't anything a little Chavez won't fix.