FORBES/WOLFE Weekly Insider: DEC. 9.2011 by Josh Wolfe (email: jwolfe@forbes.com )
To follow on Twitter @wolfejosh: http://twitter.com/wolfejosh As unconventional shale natural gas finds revolutionize the energy industry, Lux Research explores the rapidly expanding universe of companies involved in frack water treatment. Will O&G companies get the frack (water) out?
There has been an explosion of frack water treatment companies, especially in the Marcellus, where geography and water disposal challenges favor small-scale solutions. Companies like WaterTectonics, NeoHydro, Produced Water Solutions, Latitude, Watervap, and Altela have pinned their hopes on a robust fracking market despite soft gas prices and strong regulations that fall just short of banning the practice outright. So far, the market has developed well regionally, with notable bans in New York State and in France. But we've expected a shakeout in the number of companies in the space, and the technologies applied to it.
Enter GasFrac, a startup that uses hydrocarbons like propane instead of water to fracture the rock. Already deployed at one site in the Marcellus, the company's technology promises performance superior to water fracking, as well as capabilities that would be impossible using water – namely, reduced fluid volumes and near-complete recovery of used fluid.
Reducing the volume of water used in fracking won't shut down demand for technologies that treat and dispose of produced water. GasFrac may not even be competitive in regions that generate an excess of produced water for disposal. But it has the potential to replace water fracking in dry climates, where water supply is problematic. That includes sites in the Middle East and China. Plus, if accepted by regulators as a more environmentally friendly way to frack, it could carve major inroads into regions where water is the current method of choice.
For Monthly Premium Subscribers: To avoid an interruption in service, renew your subscription today here: http://www.forbesnanotech.com/renew
==========================
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
==========================
"We're exploring this very seriously. We feel that if we can place carbon nanotubes a couple of nanometers apart, they will outperform silicon."
--Supratik Guha, Director of Physical Sciences, IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Laboratory
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Do you know how to profit in emerging tech like nanotech and cleantech? Find out in my exclusive monthly Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report. Click below to sign-up and get free special reports on my favorite publicly traded nanotech companies, "5 Biggest Profit-Takers of the Nanotech Revolution." Click below for access:
http://www.newsletters.forbes.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayPage&Locale=en_US&id=ProductDetailsPage&SiteID=es_764&productID=53889200&pgm=3897100
============
ON THE RADAR
============
OPINION: BLOG
Keep up with me by reading my personal opinions posted to this website covering issues about the money, markets, science and undiscovered trends behind emerging tech: just click on the link below:
http://www.forbeswolfe.com
SCIENCE: NANOELECTRONICS
In a cluttered chip-making laboratory on Stanford's campus, Max Shulaker is producing the world's smallest computer circuits by hand. Mr. Shulaker, a graduate student in electrical engineering, is helping to pioneer an extraordinary custom manufacturing process: making prototypes of a new kind of semiconductor circuit that may one day be the basis for the world's fastest supercomputers — not to mention the smallest and lowest-powered consumer gadgets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/science/silicons-possible-successors-include-carbon-nanotubes.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
INDUSTRIES: BATTERIES
The U.S. battery industry is trying to recover after suffering some shocks. Over the past few years, domestic companies have entered a global competition to supply the advanced batteries that power electric vehicles. The start-ups came into the game with big backers and high hopes behind them: Venture capitalists saw a booming market ahead, and Washington saw a chance to spur a domestic green-manufacturing industry. So far, the results have been disappointing. Some high-profile battery makers have stumbled, burdened by high manufacturing costs, strong competition from Asian rivals and a slower-than-expected rollout of electric vehicles. Now the companies are responding by cutting costs, scaling back production and trying to tap other markets, such as large-scale storage for the electricity grid.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577051832763572816.html
INDUSTRIES: ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Capacity for alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel is at 44.6 billion gallons a year in 2011, but systemic hurdles will constrain their growth to under 5% annually through 2015. But pockets of promising growth still exist as variations in local policy, demand, and feedstock availability mean that new nations will arise as global hotspots in the constrained industry, according to a report by Lux Research. Specifically, ethanol capacity will grow to 35.1 billion gallons a year in 2015, and the best opportunities for ethanol growth are in Brazil, Australia, China, Sweden, and Thailand. Biodiesel capacity growth follows close behind, reaching 15.8 billion gallons that same year, as France, Canada, Thailand, and Germany emerge as the best nations for biodiesel capacity opportunities. According to the report titled, "Nations Race to Build Alternative Fuel Capacity," all other alternative fuels -- such as biobutanol, renewable gasoline, bio jet, and bio crude -- will reach just 3.2 billion gallons total in 2015.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-global-winners-in-alternative-fuels-emerge-as-capacity-grows-to-541-billion-gallons-in-2015-2011-12-07
ISSUES: FEDERAL STIMULUS
As Congress and the White House launch investigations into renewable-energy loan guarantees made to companies such as Solyndra under the 2009 stimulus bill and related legislation, a USA TODAY analysis shows that a series of public companies that got help have soundly beaten the stock market and most venture-capital funds raised in 2008. With debate raging in Washington about whether government can effectively pick winners and losers in a fast-changing economy, the data shed light on how well the Obama administration did the two major jobs that venture capital performs in a high-tech economy — helping investors make money and bringing new technology to market. Skeptics have pointed to former Obama economics adviser Lawrence Summers' comment in a 2009 e-mail that "government is a crappy VC" to argue that the $787 billion stimulus measure was packed with waste.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/story/2011-11-20/stimulus-stocks/51323470/1
APPLICATIONS: CANCER THERAPY
Gold is coveted and collected for its timeless beauty and monetary value. But two Syracuse University professors and a Ph.D. student are using gold in a different way -- with nanotechnology to help find more efficient ways to kill cancer cells. Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter that is between approximately 1 to 100 nanometers in size. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter. To help put that in perspective, this newspaper page is about 100,000 nanometers thick.
http://blog.syracuse.com/cny/2011/12/su_scientists_use_gold_to_help_kill_cancer_cells.html#incart_hbx
INDUSTRIES: BIOFUELS
As advanced biofuel companies work toward creating an economically viable alternative to petroleum, some have found an alternative place to sell their product in the meantime: the specialty-chemicals market. These companies produce oil from algae, wood scraps and other nonfood sources, bypassing the food-versus-fuel debate that has engulfed makers of corn-based ethanol. But the technology isn't cheap, and increasing production to the point where biofuel would be cost-competitive with petroleum products has proved slower and more expensive than anticipated. So companies like Solazyme Inc., Blue Fire Renewables Inc. and Gevo Inc. are using their technology to create personal-care products and raw materials for chemical companies, betting that the best way to obtain the millions of dollars in capital needed to ramp up fuel production is by entering the higher-margin—but also highly fragmented—specialty-chemicals business.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577027803109680684.html
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I want to make this the best newsletter for you, my reader. So let me know what you'd like to see each week and my team and I will do our best to deliver it to you! write to me now at: nanotech@forbes.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
.......................................................
FORBES/WOLFE EMERGING TECH REPORT: JANUARY ISSUE
Subscribe Now and download the January issue immediately to read these featured stories and more...
http://www.newsletters.forbes.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayPage&Locale=en_US&id=ProductDetailsPage&SiteID=es_764&productID=53889200&pgm=3897100
Nanotech Evolves
"When technologies change rapidly and capital flows freely one of the biggest dangers investors and entrepreneurs face is becoming too narrow or niche in focus."
Solar Stocks: Too Hot to Handle For Now
"Despite the rush of capital and excitement however, there are signs that a cloud is forming over solar stocks."
Companies to Watch: Authentix, LS9
As always in each monthly issue:
* The Emerging Tech Portfolio -- an update on my core emerging tech portfolio including company, industry, date purchased, current price and 52-week high.
* Word on the Street -- I separate fact from fiction concerning the latest buzz from Wall Street on my companies and tell my readers whether to buy, hold or sell.
* Market Trends -- My latest analysis and insight on opportunities in nanotech investing, and, perhaps more importantly, the pitfalls to avoid.
No other monthly report precisely targets how trends in emerging technology affect Wall Street and the investor community. Corporate or multi-user volume discount packages available.
Visit this web page for details:
http://www.newsletters.forbes.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayPage&Locale=en_US&id=ProductDetailsPage&SiteID=es_764&productID=53889200&pgm=3897100
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Comments and/or information for analysis: nanotech@forbes.com Subscription and customer service issues: nanotech@forbes.com Media services and trade show requests: nanotech@forbes.com
If your Internet provider filters incoming e-mail, please add newsletters@forbes.com to your list of approved senders to ensure that you receive this email.
http://www.forbesnanotech.com
(c) 2011 Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report. All rights reserved.
FORBES/WOLFE Weekly Insider: 
