AES , is branching out to wind power generation and other alternative energy. The company which has operations in 26 countries is also interested in entering the 28 billion dollar carbon trading market. Its chief executive, Paul Hanrahan, gave an interview with the new york times about the companies plans.

Also in the news Ted Turner the guy who owns TNT and a whole bunch of other stuff, is starting his own solar business venture with DTSolar.

So what have these tycoons seen that others have not? Simple, renewables are the future, and its going to be much easier to get in on the ground floor than it will be later. No matter how you feel about big business, or the free market system, there is no good reason why you can not make a lot of money and create renewable energy at the same time. In fact the wind and solar industry are the fastest growing sector of the energy market.

Imagine a carbon regulated world (its coming trust me, and soon.) in which carbon emissions become an added cost. Anyone positioned to supply renewable energy is set to dominate the market. With a large portfolio of renewables you can either offset your emissions and thus avoid added carbon cost, or you can go full renewables and sell your carbon offsets to dirty companies, either way you will be better off than anyone burning old fashion fuels.

Companies like Exxon are steadfastly holding to the old school pump and burn model of energy production. They have most likely seen that a coming shortage for (cheap) world oil supplies will only make their current oil stocks more valuable. In fact their future depends on it. It is no secret that Exxon spends millions of dollars each year to maintain the political status-quo in America. They have to, if the political climate were to suddenly shift to a very pro-renewable energy one there is a chance that the shift over to renewables would be so swift that Exxon would be left holding worthless oil that no one wanted.

Renewables are coming and coming fast. If large energy suppliers wish to position themselves to remain dominate in the energy market of tomorrow they are going to need a diverse portfolio of wind, solar, wave, geothermal, and biomass/bio-fuel.

Read the times excerpt from AES and the Turner press release below the fold.

Continue reading Big Buisness Moving Into The Renewable Energy Market →