BioDieselNow - Renewable biodiesel fuel

I have some retirement money in Vanguard's VGENX energy fund and have watched it take off spectacularly in the last couple of years, to the point where Vanguard has closed the fund to new investors. That's not all my retirement money. I'd like to put some of it into biodiesel and/or TDP, perhaps starting at $2-5K and increasing my investment as I get comfortable and if things look good. I don't want to put money in a single small venture, like a single regional biodiesel producer, because the risk of any single small company failing is too great. However, I'd love to put money into a mutual fund that sponsers biodiesel in some way. I'd particularly like to invest through a fund in Mike Briggs' algal oil project. I'm 45, so I can still afford to risk a portion of my retirement money, but I also want to avoid extreme risk. Does anyone know of such a fund from a reputable investment company?

Shoebear, Google is your friend... [:)] Check out http://www.newalternativesfund.com/ as the first one on the list for "alternative energy funds" in google. I think a more robust search would find even more.

An article on Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that are based on alternative energy. Didn't read the whole thing, I will leave that to you. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to read the whole article and provide us with a brief synopsis... http://www.axcessnews.com/environmental_091304a.shtml

Google is helpful, but misses the personal aspect I was looking for -- kind of like using match.com to find a spouse. Any scam artist can put up an impressive web site and pull in suckers. I asked here to hear recommendations from you folks who perhaps have money invested already. Now I realize that a scam artist can pop in here and recommend his own scam, but if several non-newbies like the same fund(s), that would carry some weight with me. The axcessnews article basically says that there's a new ETF offered by PowerShares Capital Management that invests in "energy alternatives including wind, solar, and hydrogen fuel cells". The ETF is based on the new WilderHill Clean Energy Index (ECO) created by San Diego based WilderShares. An ETF is like a mutual fund but the price can fluctuate throughout the day. In contrast, mutual funds set their price once a day. This makes ETF's attractive to day traders. The New Alternatives Fund also takes a shotgun approach that includes hydrogen, but at least it lists biomass as a major investment area and bio-diesel as a minor area under biomass. It's an established fund, founded in 1982, but the yield since 1996 is barely positive (0.49%). I did my own Google search for biodiesel energy fund prospectus and biodiesel fund prospectus. I didn't find anything worth mentioning except the New Alternatives Fund. I'm looking for a fund that has a major or exclusive focus on biodiesel and/or TDP. I'm particularly keen on algal oil, and I'd like a fund that doesn't invest in hydrogen. I think hydrogen will not make any money in the next 20 years. If there are no such opportunities, I guess I could look into investing in a large biodiesel manufacturer without going through a fund. However, most of them are privately held, limiting the opportunity for a small investor like me.

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Originally posted by JorPet
Shoebear, Google is your friend... [:)] Check out http://www.newalternativesfund.com/ as the first one on the list for "alternative energy funds" in google. I think a more robust search would find even more.

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These people seem to be unimpressed with biodiesel:

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Bio-diesel can be created from used or virgin plant oil. Commercial tests and production have been with rapeseed oil, soybeans, sunflower oil. It is mostly produced by individual experimenters. There is current interest in commercializing this product. Bio-diesel works well and is cleaner than petroleum-based diesel fuel. It is not yet certain that it will become a mainstream technology.

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They also talk about interest in Hydrogen, but the list of investments suggest a more conventional focus.

Shoe, Have you tried getting in touch w/ Mike privatly, or Ummm, who's the guy w/ the algea/Tilapia ponds? If I win the Lottery.... Reid

Reid, I did ask Mike about investments, and he's looking only for large investors. My impression (maybe not correct) is that he'd prefer a single venture capitalist to carry the project. I have not contacted the algae/Tilapia pond guy. Doesn't he run a non-profit org? If so, he would probably take donations, but not investment. Remember, my goal here is to make money. I think biodiesel, especially algal biodiesel, is a risky investment that might go flop or might return a buncha money, and I'm willing to put a portion of my retirement money in it if I can find a suitable investment.

Hi Shoebear, I'm helping to build a biodiesel distribution network as well as 2 restaurant oil collection services and an algae oil processing facility. We could use some money. Please let me know what you think. Christopher Cudnoski 920-265-1457 cleanenergy99@yahoo.com

World Energy seems to have a very wide distribution network http://www.worldenergy.net. They strike me as a potentially powerful, broad-based organization--less risky than a regional distributor. Unfortunately, they aren't publicly traded.

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Originally posted by green boy
Hi Shoebear, I'm helping to build a biodiesel distribution network as well as 2 restaurant oil collection services and an algae oil processing facility. We could use some money. Please let me know what you think. Christopher Cudnoski

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Christopher, right now I must invest only in funds that are approved retirement investments. All my investment dollars are locked up there. My family just unexpectedly grew by 2 foster boys when a family we've known for a number of years had their kids taken away by DHS for neglect and we volunteered to take their kids. So we don't have any spare cash outside the retirement funds. Do you (or does anyone else) know what would have to happen to be able to invest retirement funds in a venture like yours? I presume the first step would be to issue public stock?

There are two companies that had IPO's on the London Stock Exchange last year you could invest in that deal primarily (or exclusively?) with biodiesel. One is D1 Oils www.d1plc.com and the other BioFuels Corporation http://www.biofuelscorp.com/index.htm I know that two doesn't quite make a fund, but it's better than one ;-)) John

We are starting up a biodieel manufacturing company and recieved a a solicitation from "The Next Capital corp" see them at www.nextcapital.net

GreenStar Products Inc (GSPI on the stock exchange) is one option. They are a form of venture capital firm that invests in various alternative fuel/energy companies, and has a controlling interest in American Biofuels LLC (the company that developed modular biodiesel plants, so they can tack on 2.5 million gallon per year modules to increase a plant's capacity as desired. They are the one with the large plant in Bakersfield, CA). Of course, you could also buy some ConAgra, as they own a portion of CWT, the TDP company. On the algae stuff, we're trying to do it primarily through DOE funding if possible, to avoid any licensing issues until we have the technology fully developed and commercial ready. That would be much simpler, and let us just focus on the R&D without needing to worry about contracts, license agreements, yada yada yada.

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Originally posted by shoebear Do you (or does anyone else) know what would have to happen to be able to invest retirement funds in a venture like yours? I presume the first step would be to issue public stock?

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That does happen to be up my alley. The best source I found was the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/retirement/article/0,,id=111413,00.html#19 that says there are actually a lot less limitations on what can be in an IRA than I thought. The trick would be to find a reputable trustee that would let you invest in anything nonstandard (ie anything you can't buy directly on a stock exchange). The less standardized the investment, the more likely they would have to charge more to deal with the compliance to the IRS code and regulations. My guess though is that there is a trustee out there somewhere that would let you invest in almost anything you wanted and is allowed. It is likely other people want to use nonstandard investments, so someone is probably doing it. Further reference is the actual IRS code on IRA's http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+26USC408 and page 7-8 of their publication 590 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590.pdf Hope that helped

It looks like AfroDiesels favorite D1 Oils (D1PLC) could be along the lines you are looking at. They traded in the UK on one of their markets. Take a look at http://www.d1plc.com/investorinfo/

Sir, Are you interested to invest in India? Well,I did saw something in your topic about google search.Is it google.com? you are refeering about your search in Bio-Diesel.

Here's a penny stock that just bought substantially into biodiesel: http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2005/02/21/daily47.html

There is a group of us in New Hampshire looking into going in together (as individuals, and with one or more companies) to invest in a commercial biodiesel processing plant. It is still in the early planning stages. we need to see how much is available for existing feedstocks (primarily WVO and tallow in NH). If anyone is interested in possibly getting involved, send me an email.

we are seeking serious investors in our algae to oil projects as well as our biodiesel-ethanol hybrid plant operations. a part of our organisation IS a non profit it is known as the Ecogenics center for the study of alternative solutions ...it is dedicated to pure research and education. We have another entity which is broken down into divisions... for example we have a solar energy division, , an alternative housing division , an alternative agriculture -permaculture division producing medicinal herbs and products, hybrid power plant cogeneration systems methane and producer gas production systems ETC. WE are looking for investors in algae- to oil- to biodiesel project development..what we bring to the table is the following: thirty years of algae research including closed loop ecosystems production technology, A biodiesel plant capable of producing 7500 gallons per week with plans to expand... but more than that, we have a BUYER for all the biodiesel we can make RIGHT NOW with a projected demand for nine million gallons by the end of the year... we want to expand and improve the plant now as we feel we can acquire more buyers for our high quality biofuels we also have an evolving relationship with Korean, columbian and african entities who are seeking our technologies ! We are no debt enterprise and will not borrow money and we dont want anyone to invest who has to borrow money to do so. were looking for $250 K minimum investment.we dont consider investment in algae to oil projects a high risk venture due to the fact that there are so many value added products that result with our system and we can always switch to the highly valuable high ticket food grade algaes such as spirulina or our algae - tilapia systems which include hydroponic production of high ticket medicinal herbs.so if you have deep pockets and a good set of COJONES come and join us as we make the vision become reality. Marc Cardoso 865 428 0314. check out our website...just google ecogenics

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Originally posted by Taxman
The trick would be to find a reputable trustee that would let you invest in anything nonstandard (ie anything you can't buy directly on a stock exchange). <snip> Hope that helped

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That is exactly what I need. But I have no idea how to find such a person and verify that s/he is not a crook or scam artist. Thanks for the suggestion, though . . . I will keep my eyes open for someone like that. To those who suggested various stocks -- Thanks for the info! If I can find a trustee so I can use retirement money, I'll investigate those companies. Marc, I am nowhere near the $250K league, but perhaps another reader here is. Good luck with your venture!