ConocoPhilips CEO Calls For Federal Energy Strategy

The large oil companies are spending a decent amount of money in research of alternative energies - for competitive reasons, they don't have much choice. That being said, it seems that what may be holding them back from investing more and making a greater impact in the development of useful technologies is that there is unease about what the U.S. government may ultimately decide upon in terms of regulations. Oil companies know regulations are coming, so they want to know what they have to deal with before making any significant investments.

ConocoPhilips CEO James Mulva says as much in this article from BusinessWeek online, "The Trouble with Crude Oil". Mulva calls for an energy strategy to come from the U.S. government, so U.S. oil companies can better compete with foreign companies and national oil companies.

My question is whether our government can make a policy that makes sense and doesn't simply make decisions based on winning votes (can anyone say ethanol made from corn?).

Energyville - Powering the City of the Future

I recently played Energyville, an easy-to-play game developed by The Economist Group for Chevron, where the object is to power your city today and in a couple of future years using a number of different power sources. You are scored based on environmental, security, and economic factors - for example, using all fossil fuels might cost less, but would score poorly in the environmental and security portion.

To play, you can link to the game from Chevron's Will You Join Us website, which is a portal for discussion about the future of energy. The game doesn't take very long to play - see how you do by clicking here.

Exxon Mobil NOT Investing in Alternative Energy

My first reaction to this article, from Fortune, about Exxon Mobil not investing in alternative energy was to think, as some critics mentioned in the article do, that CEO Rex Tillerson and Exxon Mobil has a short-term (or not long enough) view of their business and that it's a mistake. Tillerson won't be around long enough to be hurt by such a view.

Of course, I think it's extrememly important for a company the size Exxon Mobil to make the move to investing in alternative energy. Without companies like them on board, it makes it harder for the technologies to become more mainstream and more affordable. That being said, the way business is structured, can he be blamed for this thinking? In other words, in the short-term, he may be hurting Exxon Mobil's profits and isn't that against everything his job description calls for? Taking the longer term perspective, should he even be blamed for not investing in the research and development? I've said before in this blog, my thought about Exxon Mobil is that they'll sit back and earn their hefty profits without making any investments. When the time comes that a technology looks promising and profitable, Exxon Mobil will use their loads of cash and buy up a few companies. They don't have to "waste" their money now (of course, I believe if they threw their money into the R&D, something viable would come quicker), but can sit back, profit as they traditionally have, and invest when there is more return guaranteed on their investment.

It's easy for me to make Tillerson out as a bad guy. But as business rules as they are where there is no cost applied to companies who contribute to global warming or pollution, CEO's are really discouraged from making the responsible choice for the world and are encouraged to make the responsbile one for their company's shareholders.

Tillerson may not be a bad guy, but he certainly will never be a "profile in courage".

Two for Tuesday - GM's Electric Car and Using Algae for Energy

Here is an article stating that GM has a goal to produce an all-electric car in 2010. The article says that some question whether GM truly is looking to produce the car or just take in the positive press that comes with such an announcement.

This article is about a start-up managed by two experienced venture capitalists who are researching the potential to use the photosynthesis process from algae to produce biofuels. Their company, LiveFuels, is not the only company with this idea - see GreenFuel Technologies Corporation.

401(k) Plans with a Conscience and Green Power Buyers

Most companies do not offer options in their retirement plans for employees to contribute to socially responsible investments. A new company, Social(k) is hoping to change that. A recent survey showed that 74% of employees of companies who do not offer socially responsible investment options would invest in them if given the choice. Also, 68% of employers said they'd like to offer the investments to their employees, but most just haven't been given the choice.

Of course, performance of the plans are extremely important. According to the article, "since the inception of the Domini 400 Social Index on May 1, 1990, its annualized returns of 12.09% have beaten the S&P 500's annualized returns of 11.45%."

To learn more about Social(k), visit there website here.
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The U.S. EPA list of top purchasers of alternative energy was recently announced. Wells Fargo was first on the list, the first time a governmental agency did not head the list. Whole Foods was second on the list. Third was the U.S. Air Force; fourth was the U.S. EPA; fifth was Johnson & Johnson.

The entire top 25 list can be viewed at the EPA's site here.